Information sharing democratization for co-located group meetings

ABSTRACT

Information sharing between meeting attendees during a co-located group meeting in a meeting space is democratized using a computer that is operating cooperatively with one or more object sensing devices in the meeting space to identify postures formed by the meeting attendees.

BACKGROUND

Project teams routinely hold group meetings to discuss the projects theyare working on. During these group meetings the meeting attendees maydiscuss the status of tasks associated with a given project, they mayassign and prioritize the tasks, and they may make decisions on theproject, among other things. These group meetings are often verycollaborative and interactive. Additionally, these group meetings caninvolve frequent information sharing between two or more of the meetingattendees. These group meetings can also involve “on-the-fly”information manipulation and/or annotation by a given meeting attendee,where the manipulation/annotation is intended to be publicly viewable bythe other meeting attendees. Due to ongoing technology advances in areassuch as portable personal computing devices, mobile computingapplications, data communication, and computer networking, the meetingattendees will often each bring one or more portable personal computingdevices to these group meetings.

SUMMARY

This Summary is provided to introduce a selection of concepts, in asimplified form, that are further described hereafter in the DetailedDescription. This Summary is not intended to identify key features oressential features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended tobe used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subjectmatter.

Information sharing democratization technique embodiments describedherein generally involve democratizing information sharing during aco-located group meeting in a meeting space. In one exemplaryembodiment, whenever a condition occurs which includes a meetingattendee who is not within a prescribed distance of a public displaydevice in the meeting space forming a remote location indicator postureand remotely pointing this posture at the public display device, acomputer will operate cooperatively with an audience-oriented objectsensing device in the meeting space to identify this condition. Thecomputer will also enable a remote location indicator mode for as longas this condition continues, and will display a location indicator onthe public display device in a position thereon corresponding to wherethe remote location indicator posture is currently being pointed.

In another exemplary embodiment, whenever another condition occurs whichincludes a first meeting attendee who is within a prescribed distance ofa public display device having a touch-enabled display screen in themeeting space forming the remote location indicator posture and remotelypointing this posture at a second meeting attendee who is not within theprescribed distance of the public display device, a computer willoperate cooperatively with both an audience-oriented object sensingdevice in the meeting space, and a presenter-oriented object sensingdevice in the meeting space, to identify this condition, identify thesecond meeting attendee, and identify a personal computing device thatis associated with the second meeting attendee. The computer will alsoenable a presenter-to-audience-member transfer mode for as long as thiscondition continues. Whenever the presenter-to-audience-member transfermode is enabled and the first meeting attendee performs aninformation-push touch gesture on an information object that isdisplayed on the display screen, the computer will transmit a copy ofthe information object to the personal computing device.

In yet another exemplary embodiment, whenever a first condition occurswhich includes a first meeting attendee who is using a touch-enablednon-handheld computing device forming the remote location indicatorposture and remotely pointing this posture at a second meeting attendee,a computer will operate cooperatively with an object sensing device inthe meeting space to identify the first condition, identify the secondmeeting attendee, and identify a personal computing device that isassociated with the second meeting attendee. The computer will alsoenable a peer-to-peer transfer mode for as long as the first conditioncontinues. Whenever the peer-to-peer transfer mode is enabled and thefirst meeting attendee performs the information-push touch gesture on afirst information object that is displayed on a display screen of thenon-handheld computing device, the computer will receive a copy of thefirst information object from the non-handheld computing device, andwill forward the copy of the first information object to the personalcomputing device. Whenever a second condition occurs which includes thepeer-to-peer transfer mode being disabled and a third meeting attendeewho is using a touch-enabled handheld computing device forming a devicepointing posture and remotely pointing this posture at the secondmeeting attendee, the computer will operate cooperatively with theobject sensing device to identify the second condition, identify thesecond meeting attendee, and identify a personal computing device thatis associated with the second meeting attendee. The computer will alsoenable the peer-to-peer transfer mode for as long as the secondcondition continues. Whenever the peer-to-peer transfer mode is enabledand the third meeting attendee performs the information-push touchgesture on a second information object that is displayed on a displayscreen of the handheld computing device, the computer will receive acopy of the second information object from the handheld computingdevice, and will forward the copy of the second information object tothe personal computing device.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The specific features, aspects, and advantages of the informationsharing democratization technique embodiments described herein willbecome better understood with regard to the following description,appended claims, and accompanying drawings where:

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment, in simplifiedform, of a meeting space framework for implementing the informationsharing democratization technique embodiments described herein.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment, in simplifiedform, of a system framework for implementing the information sharingdemocratization technique embodiments described herein.

FIGS. 3A-3C are diagrams illustrating one embodiment, in simplifiedform, of information sharing democratization techniques for allowing ameeting audience member to remotely point at a public display device andremotely manipulate an information object that is displayed on thisdevice.

FIGS. 4A-4C are diagrams illustrating another embodiment, in simplifiedform, of information sharing democratization techniques for allowing ameeting audience member to remotely point at the public display deviceand remotely manipulate an information object that is displayed on thisdevice.

FIGS. 5A-5C are diagrams illustrating an exemplary embodiment, insimplified form, of an information sharing democratization technique forallowing a meeting audience member to remotely execute actions on thepublic display device or remotely execute commands in an applicationthat is running on a central computing device.

FIGS. 6A-6C are diagrams illustrating an exemplary embodiment, insimplified form, of an information sharing democratization technique forallowing a meeting audience member who is using a touch-enabled handheldcomputing device to remotely transfer a copy of an information objectfrom the handheld computing device to the public display device.

FIGS. 7A-7C are diagrams illustrating an exemplary embodiment, insimplified form, of an information sharing democratization technique forallowing a meeting presenter to locally interact with informationobjects that were previously transferred to a touch-enabled publicdisplay device by a meeting audience member.

FIGS. 8A-8C are diagrams illustrating an exemplary embodiment, insimplified form, of an information sharing democratization technique forallowing a meeting audience member who is using either a tablet computeror a touch-enabled laptop computer to remotely transfer a copy of aninformation object from the public display device to the tablet/laptopcomputer.

FIGS. 9A and 9B are diagrams illustrating an exemplary embodiment, insimplified form, of an information sharing democratization technique forallowing a meeting audience member who is using a handheld computingdevice to transiently and publicly share the current contents of itsdisplay screen with all the other meeting attendees.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment, in simplifiedform, of an information sharing democratization technique for allowingtwo or more meeting presenters to locally, independently andconcurrently manipulate the information that is displayed on thetouch-enabled public display device.

FIGS. 11A-11C are diagrams illustrating an exemplary embodiment, insimplified form, of an information sharing democratization technique forallowing a meeting presenter to transfer an information object from thetouch-enabled public display device to a tertiary display region.

FIGS. 12A-12C are diagrams illustrating an exemplary embodiment, insimplified form, of an information sharing democratization technique forallowing a meeting presenter to add information content to thetouch-enabled public display device using a posture palette.

FIG. 13 is a diagram illustrating an exemplary embodiment, in simplifiedform, of an information sharing democratization technique for allowing ameeting presenter to control an explicit touch gesture mode on thetouch-enabled public display device by using a prescribed posture.

FIG. 14 is a diagram illustrating exemplary embodiments, in simplifiedform, of workflow templates which can be displayed on the public displaydevice and used by meeting attendees to organize a set of informationobjects which are also displayed on this device.

FIGS. 15A-15C are diagrams illustrating an exemplary embodiment, insimplified form, of an information sharing democratization technique forallowing a meeting presenter to use a three buckets template to organizethe set of information objects.

FIG. 16 is a flow diagram illustrating one embodiment, in simplifiedform, of a process for democratizing information sharing during aco-located group meeting in a meeting space.

FIG. 17 is a flow diagram illustrating another embodiment, in simplifiedform, of a process for democratizing information sharing during aco-located group meeting in a meeting space.

FIGS. 18A and 18B are flow diagrams illustrating yet another embodiment,in simplified form, of a process for democratizing information sharingduring a co-located group meeting in a meeting space.

FIG. 19 is a diagram illustrating a simplified example of ageneral-purpose computer system on which various embodiments andelements of the information sharing democratization technique, asdescribed herein, may be implemented.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In the following description of information sharing democratizationtechnique embodiments reference is made to the accompanying drawingswhich form a part hereof, and in which are shown, by way ofillustration, specific embodiments in which the information sharingdemocratization technique can be practiced. It is understood that otherembodiments can be utilized and structural changes can be made withoutdeparting from the scope of the information sharing democratizationtechnique embodiments.

The term “portable personal computing device” is used herein to refer toa networking-enabled computing device that is carried by a meetingattendee and can be utilized by the meeting attendee during a groupmeeting that is being held with other meeting attendees. The term“touch-enabled” when applied to a device is used herein to indicate thatthe device includes a touch-sensitive display screen which can detectthe presence and location of one or more touches or touch-basedmovements thereon, where these touches/movements can be made with hands,passive objects (such as a stylus or the like), and the like. Theinformation sharing democratization technique embodiments describedherein are operational with any type of touch-enabled portable personalcomputing device examples of which include, but are not limited to,touch-enabled handheld computing devices (such as smartphones, personaldigital assistants, and the like), tablet computers (which by definitionare touch-enabled), and touch-enabled laptop computers (also known atnotebook computers). The term “information object” is used herein torefer to a particular item of online (e.g., digital) informationcontent, or various types of iconic representations thereof, which caninclude one or more different types of digital information such as text,images, animations, audio, video, web hyperlinks, and the like. The term“copy” when applied to an information object (e.g., a copy of aninformation object) is used herein to refer to either a bit for bitreplication of the information object (e.g., a file copy), or auser-selectable link to the information object (e.g., a Uniform ResourceLocator (URL)).

1.0 Information Sharing Democratization for Co-Located Group Meetings

Generally speaking, the information sharing democratization techniqueembodiments described herein involve supporting co-located,collaborative group meetings in a meeting space by democratizing accessto, control of, manipulation of, and sharing of information objectsacross one or more touch-enabled portable personal computing devices anda public display device. Such meetings can be attended by any group oftwo or more meeting attendees who are physically co-located together inthe meeting space and wish to discuss and share information in acollaborative and interactive manner. One example of such a group ofmeeting attendees is the aforementioned project team that routinelyholds a group meeting to discuss a project they are working on.Exemplary types of project teams include a software development team anda marketing program development team, among others.

During project team group meetings the meeting attendees generally worktogether to sort, filter, edit and categorize collections of informationobjects. The formal structure of these meetings is often punctuated bymoments of open-ended discussion and white-boarding (sometimescollectively referred to as “brainstorming”). These meetings arecommonly held in a meeting space (such as a conference room or the like)having a public display device which is viewable by all the meetingattendees. The information objects are commonly stored on a centralcomputing device which is connected to and operates cooperatively withthe public display device, where the central computing device rendersthe objects and displays them on the public display device.

Generally speaking and as will be appreciated from the more detaileddescription that follows, the information sharing democratizationtechnique embodiments described herein are based on a skeletal trackinguser interface which allows the meeting attendees to employ variousmulti-modal user interaction methods which seamlessly span differentmodalities and devices, and which accomplish the aforementioned sharingof information objects. These multi-modal user interaction methods thuscreate cross-device interactions. The information sharingdemocratization technique embodiments employ various types of in-airgestures performed by the meeting attendees, along with various types ofpostures formed by the meeting attendees, for social disclosure ofcommands, targeting and mode setting. The information sharingdemocratization technique embodiments also employ various types ofdirect-touch input (herein also referred to as “touch gestures”)performed by the meeting attendees for command selection/execution andprecise gestures.

The information sharing democratization technique embodiments describedherein are advantageous for various reasons including, but not limitedto, the following. The information sharing democratization techniqueembodiments provide for a collaborative, three-dimensional design spacewhich supports proxemic interactions (i.e., proximity-aware, physicallysituated experiences) amongst a plurality of meeting attendees in ameeting space framework that includes the public display device and aplurality of heterogeneous, touch-enabled portable personal computingdevices. The information sharing democratization technique embodimentsare simple, fluid, intuitive, robust, and make common informationsharing tasks more democratically accessible. The information sharingdemocratization technique embodiments allow each meeting attendee tointeract with the public display device from anywhere in the meetingspace and with any touch-enabled portable personal computing device theybring to the meeting. The information sharing democratization techniqueembodiments are socially acceptable in a group meeting context and donot cause embarrassment of or distraction to the meeting attendees. Moreparticularly and by way of example but not limitation, the informationsharing democratization technique embodiments do not employ gesturesbased on large hand/arm/body motions (such as arm/hand waving, amongothers), or unusual gestures, or uncomfortable gestures, or gesturesthat could interfere with communication between the meeting attendees.

The information sharing democratization technique embodiments describedherein manifest to the meeting attendees which particular attendee isinteracting with the public display device at any given point in time,and which particular attendees are interacting with each other at anygiven point in time, thus creating a group awareness of suchinteractions. It will be appreciated that without such manifestations,it could be unsettling to the meeting attendees (and thus disruptive tothe meeting) to see information objects being remotely manipulated onthe public display device without knowing which meeting attendee isdoing the manipulation. The information sharing democratizationtechnique embodiments do not rely upon the use of speech which can beambiguous and can disrupt the natural conversations which take placebetween the meeting attendees. It is noted however that alternateembodiments of the information sharing democratization technique arepossible which can selectively incorporate the use of speech. Theinformation sharing democratization technique embodiments utilize simplegrammars and each modality that is employed in these embodiments has aseparate use, thus making these embodiments easy to learn and reducingthe potential for errors.

In contrast to the conventional group meeting paradigm in which one ofthe meeting attendees serves as a presenter who centrally controls thedissemination of the information objects during a group meeting that isbeing held in a meeting space (i.e., the presenter controls whichinformation objects are displayed on the public display device at eachpoint in time), the information sharing democratization techniqueembodiments described herein provide democratic access to theinformation objects. In other words, the information sharingdemocratization technique embodiments generally allow the meetingattendees to remotely share relevant information objects with eachother, and also remotely interact with and share relevant informationobjects with the public display device, all in a very low-overheadmanner which does not interrupt the meeting's flow or distract from themeeting's subject matter. The information sharing democratizationtechnique embodiments also effectively manage contention for the publicdisplay device by using touch gestures, in-air gestures and posturestogether in hybrid interactions. More particularly, the informationsharing technique embodiments use skeletal tracking of simple andfamiliar motions to specify modes and operands, and use touch input toconfirm and complete actions and commands.

More particularly and by way of example but not limitation, during agroup meeting the information sharing democratization techniqueembodiments allow any meeting attendee to freely disseminate one or morerelevant information objects, which are stored on a touch-enabledportable personal computing device they bring to the meeting, either bytransmitting the information objects to the public display device sothey can be publicly viewed by all of the other meeting attendees, or bytransmitting the information objects to the personal computing device ofanother meeting attendee so they can be privately viewed by suchattendee. The information sharing democratization technique embodimentsalso allow any meeting attendee to freely download desired informationobjects from the public display device in the meeting space to atouch-enabled portable personal computing device they bring to themeeting. Such transmissions of information objects to, and downloads ofinformation objects from, the public display device can be accomplishedwithout the meeting attendees having to switch which computing device isconnected to the public display device.

As will also be appreciated from the more detailed description thatfollows, rather than employing specialized remote controllers which canbe expensive and can get lost, the information sharing democratizationtechnique embodiments described herein employ controller-less in-airgestures and postures which are performed by the meeting attendees. Theinformation sharing democratization technique embodiments also allow themeeting attendees to optionally use any touch-enabled portable personalcomputing device they bring to the meeting as a remote controller.

1.1 Meeting Space Framework

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary embodiment, in simplified form, of ameeting space framework for implementing the information sharingdemocratization technique embodiments described herein. As exemplifiedin FIG. 1, a plurality of meeting attendees 102/104/106/108 arephysically co-located together in a meeting space 100 for the purpose ofholding a group meeting. One or more of the meeting attendees 102 mayact as a presenter during the meeting, and this role of presenter may beassumed by different meeting attendees during the course of the meeting.Generally speaking and as described heretofore, the meeting attendeesmay bring various types of touch-enabled portable personal computingdevices to the meeting. More particularly and as exemplified in FIG. 1,one meeting attendee 104 may bring a tablet computer 116 to the meeting.Another meeting attendee 108 may bring a touch-enabled handheldcomputing device 118 to the meeting. Yet another meeting attendee 106may bring a touch-enabled laptop computer 120 to the meeting. A gestureidentification application runs on each touch-enabled portable personalcomputing device that is brought to the meeting, where this applicationserves to identify any touch gestures that are performed on the displayscreen of the device.

Referring again to FIG. 1, the meeting space 100 includes a publicdisplay device 110 which is connected to and operates cooperatively witha central computing device (not shown). A collection of informationobjects being discussed during the meeting are stored on the centralcomputing device. A selected one or ones of these stored informationobjects 122 are rendered by the central computing device and displayedon the public display device 110 for public viewing by all of themeeting attendees 102/104/106/108. In the meeting space frameworkembodiment exemplified in FIG. 1 the public display device 110 ismounted on a wall of the meeting space 100. It is noted that alternateembodiments of the meeting space framework (not shown) are possiblewhere the public display device can be mounted and positioned in themeeting space in any other manner which makes it publicly viewable byall of the meeting attendees.

The public display device can optionally be touch-enabled. In otherwords, the public display device can optionally include atouch-sensitive display screen which can detect the presence andlocation of one or more touches or touch gestures thereon, where thesetouch gestures can be made with either hands or passive objects (such asa stylus or the like), among other things. Whenever the centralcomputing device is connected to a touch-enabled public display device,a gesture identification application running on the central computingdevice will operate cooperatively with the public display device toidentify any touch gestures that are performed on its display screen.

Generally speaking, the meeting space also includes a plurality ofobject sensing devices each of which also is connected to and operatescooperatively with the central computing device. More particularly, inthe meeting space framework embodiment exemplified in FIG. 1 the meetingspace 100 also includes a presenter-oriented object sensing device 114which is physically located in the meeting space such that this sensingdevice 114 operates cooperatively with a skeletal tracking applicationrunning on the central computing device to identify the current physicallocation of any meeting attendees who are within a prescribed distance(e.g., ten feet) of the public display device 110 (e.g., attendee 102,hereafter simply referred to as “presenters”), and also identify thein-air gestures and postures performed by such attendees, among otherthings. The meeting space 100 also includes an audience-oriented objectsensing device 112 which is physically located in the meeting space 100such that this sensing device 112 operates cooperatively with theskeletal tracking application running on the central computing device toidentify the current physical location of any other meeting attendeeswho are not within the prescribed distance of the public display device110 (e.g., attendees 104/106/108, hereafter simply referred to as“audience members”), and also identify the in-air gestures and posturesperformed by such attendees, among other things. In the case where agiven gesture or posture performed by a given meeting attendee involvesa portable personal computing device (various examples of which areprovided hereafter), the audience-oriented object sensing device 112also operates cooperatively with the skeletal tracking application toidentify the device and associate it with the gesture/posture. It willbe appreciated that the portable personal computing device can beidentified using various methods such as either visual tagging, orinfrared beacons which are transmitted from the device, or low-powerradio signaling (e.g., Bluetooth) which emanates from the device, amongothers.

In an exemplary embodiment of the information sharing democratizationtechnique described herein, the skeletal tracking application performshand posture recognition using a conventional heuristic method thatcomputes the average number of radial gaps between fingers on a hand.Alternate embodiments of the information sharing democratizationtechnique are also possible which use other methods such as optical flowand statistical interference, among others. Alternate embodiments of theinformation sharing democratization technique are also possible whichrecognize other types of postures.

Referring again to FIG. 1, the object sensing devices 112 and 114 can beimplemented in various ways including, but not limited to, thefollowing. In one embodiment of the information sharing democratizationtechnique described herein each object sensing device is an infraredprojector combined with an infrared camera that is matched to theinfrared projector in order to produce an ongoing series of depth mapsof the meeting space 100. In another embodiment of the informationsharing democratization technique each object sensing device is anultrasound transmitter combined with an ultrasound receiver that ismatched to the ultrasound transmitter. In yet another embodiment of theinformation sharing democratization technique each object sensing deviceis a pair of visible light video cameras (also known as RGB(red/green/blue) video cameras) which operate together as a stereo videocamera. In yet another embodiment of the information sharingdemocratization technique each object sensing device is just a singlevisible light video camera. Additional embodiments of the informationsharing democratization technique are also possible where each objectsensing device can include various combinations of the infraredprojector and matching infrared camera, the ultrasound transmitter andmatching ultrasound receiver, the pair of visible light video cameras,and the single visible light video camera. Additional embodiments of theinformation sharing democratization technique are also possible wherethe different object sensing devices are implemented in different ways.

Referring again to FIG. 1, the meeting space 100 can optionally alsoinclude an optical projection device 124 which also is connected to andoperates cooperatively with the central computing device. The opticalprojection device 124 is physically located in the meeting space suchthat this projection device operates cooperatively with a tertiarydisplay application running on the central computing device to opticallyproject a tertiary display region (not shown) onto a prescribed locationon an optically-reflective, surface in the meeting space that is nearthe public display device (hereafter simply referred to as a “tertiarysurface”). The tertiary display region can thus be viewed by all of themeeting attendees. In the meeting space framework embodiment exemplifiedin FIG. 1 the optical projection device 124 is mounted on the ceiling ofthe meeting space 100, the tertiary surface is a wall in the meetingspace upon which the public display device is mounted, and theprescribed location is immediately above the public display device. Inan alternate embodiment of the information sharing democratizationtechnique the tertiary surface can be a portable projector screen (orthe like) and the prescribed location can be either immediately to theright or to the left of the public display device, among other places.

1.2 System Framework

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary embodiment, in simplified form, of asystem framework for implementing the information sharingdemocratization technique embodiments described herein. As exemplifiedin FIG. 2, the public display device 200, the presenter-oriented objectsensing device 202, the audience-oriented object sensing device 204, thecentral computing device 206, and the touch-enabled portable personalcomputing devices 208 are interconnected via a data communicationsnetwork 212. This network can be implemented as either a conventionalwired local area network (such as Ethernet, or the like), or aconventional wireless local area network (such as Wi-Fi, or the like),or a combination thereof. The optical projection device 210 is connecteddirectly to the central computing device 206 via a video connection 214such as either a composite video connection, or an S-video connection,or an RGB video connection, or the like.

1.3 Remotely Interacting with Public Display Device

This section describes exemplary embodiments of information sharingdemocratization techniques for allowing the audience members to remotelyinteract with this the public display device.

1.3.1 Pointing and Dragging with Arm

FIGS. 3A-3C illustrate one embodiment, in simplified form, ofinformation sharing democratization techniques for allowing an audiencemember to remotely point at the public display device and remotelymanipulate an information object that is displayed on this device. Asexemplified in FIG. 3A, whenever a condition occurs where an audiencemember forms a remote location indicator posture 300 and remotely points302 this posture at the public display device 304, the skeletal trackingapplication running on the central computing device will operatecooperatively with the audience-oriented object sensing device toidentify this condition, and the central computing device will enable aremote location indicator mode and display a location indicator 306 onthe public display device, where the position of the location indicatoron the public display device corresponds to where the remote locationindicator posture is currently being pointed. Generally speaking, theremote location indicator posture 300 can be implemented using any typeof posture that is recognizable by the combination of theaudience-oriented object sensing device and skeletal trackingapplication, and can be differentiated from the other postures describedherein. By way of example but not limitation, in the particulartechnique embodiment exemplified in FIG. 3A the remote locationindicator posture 300 is implemented as an arm 318 of the audiencemember being extended away from their body and one or more fingers 320of the arm being pointed away from their body in the same generaldirection as the arm.

In the particular information sharing democratization techniqueembodiment exemplified in FIG. 3A the location indicator 306 isimplemented as a cursor. Alternate information sharing democratizationtechnique embodiments (not shown) are also possible where the locationindicator is implemented in other ways. By way of example but notlimitation, the location indicator can be implemented as a staticspotlight that indicates a general area of the public display device'sscreen. The location indicator can also be implemented as an overlaythat indicates a prescribed portion (e.g., a quadrant) of the publicdisplay device's screen. The location indicator can also be implementedas a colored border around such a prescribed portion of the publicdisplay device's screen.

Referring again to FIG. 3A, the central computing device will remain inthe remote location indicator mode and continue to display the locationindicator 306 on the public display device 304 for as long as theaudience member maintains the remote location indicator posture 300 andpoints 302 it at the public display device. The audience member can thususe the remote location indicator posture 300 to remotely and preciselypoint at either a desired location on the public display device 304 or aparticular information object 314 that is displayed on the publicdisplay device.

Referring again to FIG. 3A, whenever the remote location indicator modeis enabled and the audience member changes where on the public displaydevice 304 their remote location indicator posture 300 is currentlybeing pointed 302, the skeletal tracking application will operatecooperatively with the audience-oriented object sensing device to trackthese changes, and the central computing device will move the locationindicator 306 on the public display device accordingly (thus allowingthe audience member to remotely move the location indicator on thepublic display device). Whenever the remote location indicator mode isenabled and another condition occurs where the audience member eitherstops forming the remote location indicator posture 300 or points itaway from the public display device 304, the skeletal trackingapplication will operate cooperatively with the audience-oriented objectsensing device to identify this condition, and the central computingdevice will disable the remote location indicator mode and remove thelocation indicator 306 from the public display device.

As exemplified in FIGS. 3B and 3C, whenever another condition occurswhere an audience member forms remote dragging posture 308 and remotelypoints 310 this posture at the public display device 304, the skeletaltracking application will operate cooperatively with theaudience-oriented object sensing device to identify this condition, andthe central computing device will enable a remote dragging mode anddisplay a dragging cursor 312 on the public display device, where theposition of the dragging cursor on the public display device correspondsto where this posture is currently being pointed. Generally speaking,the remote dragging posture 308 can be implemented using any type ofposture that is recognizable by the combination of the audience-orientedobject sensing device and skeletal tracking application, and can bedifferentiated from the other postures described herein. By way ofexample but not limitation, in the particular technique embodimentexemplified in FIGS. 3B and 3C the remote dragging posture 308 isimplemented as an arm 318 of the audience member being extended awayfrom their body with all of the fingers 322 of the arm being bunchedtogether and the palm of the arm being approximately perpendicular tothe floor of the meeting space. The central computing device will remainin the remote dragging mode and continue to display the dragging cursor312 on the public display device 304 for as long as the audience membermaintains the remote dragging posture 308 and points 310/316 it at thepublic display device.

Referring again to FIGS. 3B and 3C, whenever the remote dragging mode isenabled, and the audience member points 310 their remote draggingposture 308 at a particular information object 314 that is displayed onthe public display device 304 and then changes where on the publicdisplay device this posture is being pointed 316, the skeletal trackingapplication will operate cooperatively with the audience-oriented objectsensing device to track these changes, and the central computing devicewill move the information object on the public display deviceaccordingly (thus allowing the audience member to remotely move theinformation object on the public display device). Whenever the remotedragging mode is enabled and another condition occurs where the audiencemember either stops forming the remote dragging posture 308 or points itaway from the public display device 304, the skeletal trackingapplication will operate cooperatively with the audience-oriented objectsensing device to identify this condition, and the central computingdevice will disable the remote dragging mode and remove the draggingcursor 312 from the public display device.

In the case where the audience-oriented and presenter-oriented objectsensing devices have a low sensing resolution, the center point of thepublic display device can be calibrated to be aligned in absolutecoordinates using conventional methods. Outward from this center point again factor having a value of less than one can be applied by thecentral computing device to create greater pointing precision. In thecontext of the information sharing democratization technique embodimentsdescribed herein the term “gain factor” refers to a ratio of physicalmovement in real space to how far an object being displayed on a displaydevice (such as a location indicator or the like) will move in relationto the physical movement. In the case where the audience-oriented andpresenter-oriented object sensing devices have a greater sensingresolution, absolute pointing (e.g., a gain factor of one) can beemployed by the central computing device. In the case where theaudience-oriented and presenter-oriented object sensing devices areimplemented as an infrared projector combined with an infrared camerathat is matched to the infrared projector in order to produce an ongoingseries of depth maps as described heretofore, and these sensing devicesare intended to recognize hand postures, the skeletal trackingapplication running on the central computing device can segment thehand, and then track any movement of the hand by averaging the depthmaps in a prescribed radius surrounding the segmented hand.

1.3.2 Pointing and Dragging with Arm and Hand-Held Computing Device

FIGS. 4A-4C illustrate another embodiment, in simplified form, ofinformation sharing democratization techniques for allowing an audiencemember to remotely point at the public display device and remotelymanipulate an information object that is displayed on this device. Asexemplified in FIG. 4A, whenever a condition occurs where an audiencemember who is using a touch-enabled handheld computing device 400 formsa device pointing posture 402 with this device and remotely points 404this posture at the public display device 406, the skeletal trackingapplication running on the central computing device will operatecooperatively with the audience-oriented object sensing device toidentify this condition, and the central computing device will enable adevice pointing mode and display the location indicator 412 on thepublic display device, where the position of the location indicator onthe public display device corresponds to where this posture is currentlybeing pointed. Generally speaking, the device pointing posture 402 canbe implemented using any type of posture that is recognizable by thecombination of the audience-oriented object sensing device and skeletaltracking application, and can be differentiated from the other posturesdescribe herein. By way of example but not limitation, in the particulartechnique embodiment exemplified in FIG. 4A the device pointing posture402 is implemented as an arm 408 of the audience member being extendedaway from their body with the handheld computing device 400 being heldin the hand 410 of the arm and being pointed away from their body in thesame general direction as the arm.

Referring again to FIG. 4A, the central computing device will remain inthe device pointing mode and continue to display the location indicator412 on the public display device 406 for as long as the audience membermaintains the device pointing posture 402 and points 404 it at thepublic display device. The audience member can thus use the devicepointing posture 402 to remotely and precisely point at either aparticular location on the public display device 406 or a particularinformation object 414 that is displayed on the public display device.

Referring again to FIG. 4A, whenever the device pointing mode is enabledand the audience member changes where on the public display device 406their device pointing posture 402 is being pointed 404, the skeletaltracking application will operate cooperatively with theaudience-oriented object sensing device to track these changes and thecentral computing device will move the location indicator 412 on thepublic display device accordingly (thus allowing the audience member toremotely move the location indicator on the public display device).Whenever the device pointing mode is enabled and another conditionoccurs where the audience member either stops forming the devicepointing posture 402 or points it away from the public display device406 (e.g., whenever the audience member puts the handheld computingdevice 400 down, among other things), the skeletal tracking applicationwill operate cooperatively with the audience-oriented object sensingdevice to identify this condition, and the central computing device willdisable the device pointing mode and remove the location indicator 412from the public display device.

As exemplified in FIGS. 4B and 4C, whenever another condition occurswhere an audience member who is using a touch-enabled handheld computingdevice 400 forms a device dragging posture 416 with this device andremotely points 418 this posture at the public display device 406, theskeletal tracking application will operate cooperatively with theaudience-oriented object sensing device to identify this condition, andthe central computing device will enable a device dragging mode anddisplay the dragging cursor 424 on the public display device, where theposition of the dragging cursor on the public display device correspondsto where this posture is being pointed. Generally speaking, the devicedragging posture 416 can be implemented using any type of posture thatis recognizable by the combination of the audience-oriented objectsensing device and skeletal tracking application, and can bedifferentiated from the other postures describe herein. By way ofexample but not limitation, in the particular technique embodimentexemplified in FIGS. 4B and 4C the device dragging posture 416 isimplemented as an arm 408 of the audience member being extended awayfrom their body with the handheld computing device 400 being held in thehand of the arm and being pointed away from their body in the samegeneral direction as the arm, and a finger 420 of the arm/hand pressinga dragging icon (not shown) that is being displayed on the displayscreen 422 of the handheld computing device. The central computingdevice will remain in the device dragging mode and continue to displaythe dragging cursor 424 on the public display device 406 for as long asthe audience member maintains the device dragging posture 416 and points418/426 it at the public display device 406.

Referring again to FIGS. 4B and 4C, whenever the device dragging mode isenabled, and the audience member points 418 their device draggingposture 416 at a particular information object 414 that is displayed onthe public display device 406 and then changes where on the publicdisplay device this posture is being pointed 426, the skeletal trackingapplication will operate cooperatively with the audience-oriented objectsensing device to track these changes and the central computing devicewill move the information object on the public display deviceaccordingly (thus allowing the audience member to remotely move theinformation object on the public display device). Whenever the devicedragging mode is enabled and another condition occurs where the audiencemember either stops forming the device dragging posture 416 or points itaway from the public display device 406 (e.g., whenever the audiencemember puts the handheld computing device 400 down, or stops pressingtheir finger 420 on the dragging icon, among other things), the skeletaltracking application will operate cooperatively with theaudience-oriented object sensing device to identify this condition, andthe central computing device will disable the device dragging mode andremove the dragging cursor 424 from the public display device.

It is noted that rather than the device dragging posture being formeduni-manually (i.e., with the same hand that is holding the touch-enabledhandheld computing device being used to press the dragging icon) as justdescribed, an alternate embodiment of the information sharingdemocratization technique described herein is also possible where thedevice dragging posture is formed bi-manually (i.e., with a differenthand than the one that is holding the handheld computing device beingused to press the dragging icon). Additionally, it will be appreciatedthat the use of the touch-enabled handheld computing device to remotelymanipulate information on the public display device is advantageoussince it is both direct and precise.

1.3.3 Annotating Temporarily with Arm and Hand-Held Computing Device

This section describes an exemplary embodiment of an information sharingdemocratization technique for allowing an audience member to remotelydraw one or more temporary annotation marks on the public displaydevice. As will be appreciated from the more detailed description thatfollows, this technique embodiment is advantageous since it allows anyaudience member to visually accentuate features remotely on the publicdisplay device.

Whenever a condition occurs where an audience member who is using atouch-enabled handheld computing device forms a device annotatingposture with this device and remotely points this posture at the publicdisplay device, the skeletal tracking application running on the centralcomputing device will operate cooperatively with the audience-orientedobject sensing device to identify this condition, and the centralcomputing device will enable a remote annotation mode. Generallyspeaking, the device annotating posture can be implemented using anytype of posture that is recognizable by the combination of theaudience-oriented object sensing device and skeletal trackingapplication, and can be differentiated from the other postures describeherein. By way of example but not limitation, in an exemplary embodimentof the information sharing democratization technique described hereinthe device annotating posture is implemented as an arm of the audiencemember being extended away from their body with the handheld computingdevice being held in the hand of the arm and being pointed away fromtheir body in the same general direction as the arm, and a finger of thearm/hand pressing an ink icon that is being displayed on the displayscreen of the handheld computing device.

The central computing device will remain in the remote annotation modefor as long as the audience member maintains the device annotatingposture and points it at the public display device. Whenever the remoteannotation mode is enabled and the audience member changes where on thepublic display device their device annotating posture is being pointed,the skeletal tracking application will operate cooperatively with theaudience-oriented object sensing device to track these changes and thecentral computing device will draw one or more annotation marks (such asarrows, lassos, and underlines, among others) on the public displaydevice according to these changes (thus allowing the audience member toremotely annotate the public display device). Whenever the remoteannotation mode is enabled and another condition occurs where theaudience member either stops forming the device annotating posture orpoints it away from the public display device (e.g., whenever theaudience member either puts the handheld computing device down, or stopspressing their finger on the ink icon, among other things), the skeletaltracking application will operate cooperatively with theaudience-oriented object sensing device to identify this condition, andthe central computing device will disable the remote annotation mode andremove the annotation marks from the public display device.

It is noted that rather than the device annotating posture being formeduni-manually (i.e., with the same hand that is holding the touch-enabledhandheld computing device being used to press the ink icon) as justdescribed, an alternate embodiment of the information sharingdemocratization technique described herein is also possible where thedevice annotating posture is formed bi-manually (i.e., with a differenthand than the one that is holding the handheld computing device beingused to press the ink icon).

1.3.4 Gesturing with Pointing and Touch

FIGS. 5A-5C illustrate an exemplary embodiment, in simplified form, ofan information sharing democratization technique for allowing anaudience member to remotely execute actions on the public display deviceor remotely execute commands in an application that is running on thecentral computing device. As will be appreciated from the more detaileddescription that follows, this particular technique embodiment isadvantageous since it prevents accidental command execution due tomisinterpreted in-air gestures, and provides tactile response to theaudience member.

As exemplified in FIG. 5A, whenever a condition occurs where an audiencemember who is using a touch-enabled handheld computing device 508 formsthe device pointing posture 500 with this device and remotely points 502this posture at the public display device 504, the skeletal trackingapplication running on the central computing device will operatecooperatively with the audience-oriented object sensing device toidentify this condition, and the central computing device will enablethe device pointing mode and display the location indicator 506 on thepublic display device, where the position of the location indicator onthe public display device corresponds to where this posture is beingpointed. The central computing device will also instruct the handheldcomputing device 508 being held in the audience member's hand 510 toenable the device pointing mode. The central computing device andhandheld computing device 508 will remain in the device pointing mode,and the central computing device will continue to display the locationindicator 506 on the public display device 504, for as long as theaudience member maintains the device pointing posture 500 and points 502it at the public display device.

Referring again to FIG. 5A, whenever the device pointing mode is enabledand another condition occurs where the audience member maintains thedevice pointing posture 500 and continues to remotely point 502 it atthe public display device 504 for a prescribed period of time (e.g., twoseconds), the skeletal tracking application will operate cooperativelywith the audience-oriented object sensing device to identify thiscondition, and the central computing device will transmit a command tothe handheld computing device 508 instructing it to display a touchgesture disclosure overlay 512 on its display screen 514. It will beappreciated that this overlay, and the other overlays describedhereafter, can be implemented in various ways. In an exemplaryembodiment of the information sharing democratization technique describeherein these overlays are implemented as semi-transparent overlays. Uponreceiving this command from the central computing device, the handheldcomputing device 508 will display this overlay 512 on its display screen514.

Referring again to FIG. 5A, the touch gesture disclosure overlay 512includes one or more different graphical icons 516 each of whichdiscloses a different rectilinear, mark-based touch gesture that isallowed to be performed by the audience member on the display screen 514of the touch-enabled handheld computing device 508. The overlay 512 canalso include text 518 that is displayed alongside each graphical icon516, where this text discloses a particular action or command that isassociated with each touch gesture. The overlay 512 can optionally alsodisclose a first spatial operand (not shown) which allows the audiencemember to select a particular spatial location on the public displaydevice.

It will be appreciated that many different rectilinear, mark-based touchgestures and associated actions/commands are possible. Generallyspeaking, whenever the device pointing mode is enabled and the secondmeeting attendee performs an allowed touch gesture on the display screenof the handheld computing device, the handheld computing device willtransmit a command to the central computing device that is associatedwith this touch gesture. Upon receiving this command from the handheldcomputing device the central computing device will execute the command.By way of example but not limitation and as exemplified in FIGS. 5B and5C, whenever the audience member performs a pan-right touch gesture 520on the display screen 514 of the handheld computing device 508, thehandheld computing device will transmit a pan-right command to thecentral computing device. Upon receiving the pan-right command, thecentral computing device will pan 522 the information that is displayedon the public display device 504 to the right. Similarly, whenever theaudience member performs a pan-left touch gesture (not shown) on thedisplay screen of the handheld computing device, the handheld computingdevice will transmit a pan-left command to the central computing device.Upon receiving the pan-left command, the central computing device willpan the information that is displayed on the public display device tothe left.

Generally speaking, the pan-right and pan-left touch gestures can beimplemented using any type of rectilinear, mark-based touch gesture thatis recognizable by the gesture identification application, and can bedifferentiated from the other touch gestures described herein. By way ofexample but not limitation, in the particular information sharingdemocratization technique embodiment exemplified in FIG. 5B thepan-right touch gesture 520 is implemented as a flick-right touchgesture (and correspondingly the pan-left touch gesture would beimplemented as a flick-left touch gesture).

Whenever the device pointing mode is enabled, the audience member canemploy other rectilinear, mark-based touch gestures to execute a varietyof commands in an application that is running on the central computingdevice. It is noted that the rectilinear, mark-based touch gestures(such as the pan-right touch gesture, or the pan-left touch gesture,among others) can be performed either uni-manually (i.e., with the samehand that is holding the touch-enabled handheld computing device) orbi-manually (i.e., with a different hand than the one that is holdingthe handheld computing device).

1.4 Sharing Information Objects

This section describes exemplary embodiments of information sharingdemocratization techniques for allowing the meeting attendees to eitherpermanently or temporarily transfer copies of information objectsbetween the public display device and a given touch-enabled portablepersonal computing device, and between two different touch-enabledportable personal computing devices.

1.4.1 Transferring Information Objects with Pointing and Touch

In an exemplary embodiment of the information sharing democratizationtechnique described herein an audience member who is using atouch-enabled handheld computing device can remotely transfer (i.e.,“pull”) a copy of an information object from the public display deviceto the handheld computing device in the following manner. Whenever thedevice pointing mode is enabled on the central computing device andhandheld computing device as described heretofore, and the audiencemember remotely points their device pointing posture at a particularinformation object that is displayed on the public display device, andwhenever they then perform an information-pull touch gesture on thedisplay screen of their handheld computing device, the handheldcomputing device will transmit an information-pull command to thecentral computing device, where this command requests that a copy of theparticular information object be transferred to the handheld computingdevice. Upon receiving this command from the handheld computing device,the central computing device will transmit a copy of the particularinformation object to the audience member's handheld computing device.Generally speaking, the information-pull touch gesture can beimplemented using any type of rectilinear, mark-based touch gesture thatis recognizable by the gesture identification application, and can bedifferentiated from the other touch gestures described herein. By way ofexample but not limitation, in an exemplary embodiment of theinformation sharing democratization technique described herein theinformation-pull touch gesture is implemented as a flick-downward (i.e.,away from the public display device) touch gesture. It is noted that theflick-downward touch gesture can be performed either uni-manually orbi-manually.

After the copy of the particular information object has been received bythe audience member's touch-enabled handheld computing device, ascaled-down version of the information object will be displayed on thehandheld computing device's display screen at the approximate locationwhere the information-pull touch gesture was performed. At this point,the audience member can stop forming the device pointing posture and canlocally interact with the copy of the information object on theirhandheld computing device at their leisure. A context menu canoptionally also be displayed on the handheld computing device's displayscreen, where this menu informs the audience member of the variousoperations they can perform on the information object. Exemplaryoperations can include editing the information object, saving, anddeleting it, among others. The audience member can also locallymanipulate the information object on their handheld computing device inother ways. By way of example but not limitation, the audience membercan perform conventional pinch touch gestures to resize the informationobject. It will be appreciated that the context menu can be implementedin various ways. In an exemplary embodiment of the information sharingdemocratization technique describe herein the context menu isimplemented as a semi-transparent overlay.

FIGS. 6A-6C illustrate an exemplary embodiment, in simplified form, ofan information sharing democratization technique for allowing anaudience member who is using a touch-enabled handheld computing deviceto remotely transfer (i.e., “push”) a copy of an information object fromthe handheld computing device to the public display device. Asexemplified in FIG. 6A and described heretofore, whenever the audiencemember forms the device pointing posture 600 with the handheld computingdevice 614 and remotely points 602 this posture at the public displaydevice 604, the device pointing mode will be enabled on the centralcomputing device and handheld computing device, and the centralcomputing device will display the location indicator 606 on the publicdisplay device, where the position of the location indicator on thepublic display device corresponds to where this posture is beingpointed. As exemplified in FIG. 6B, whenever the device pointing mode isenabled and the audience member remotely points their device pointingposture at a desired location on the public display device, and theythen perform an information-push touch gesture 608 on a particularinformation object 610 that is displayed on the display screen 612 oftheir handheld computing device 614, the handheld computing device willtransmit a copy of the information object to the central computingdevice.

Generally speaking and referring again to FIG. 6B, the information-pushtouch gesture 608 can be implemented using any type of rectilinear,mark-based touch gesture that is recognizable by the gestureidentification application and can be differentiated from the othertouch gestures described herein. By way of example but not limitation,in the particular technique embodiment exemplified in FIG. 6B theinformation-push touch gesture 608 is implemented as a flick-upward(i.e., towards the public display device) touch gesture. It is notedthat the information-push touch gesture can be performed eitheruni-manually or bi-manually.

After the copy of the information object has been received from thehandheld computing device by the central computing device, the followingthings can happen. In one embodiment of the information sharingdemocratization technique described herein the central computing devicewill display a scaled-down version of the information object on thepublic display device, where the information object will be positionedon the public display device at the location of the location indicatorat the time the audience member performed the information-push touchgesture. At this point the audience member can stop forming the devicepointing posture, and any presenter can locally interact with thisinformation object on the public display device at their leisure. Thisparticular embodiment generally suffices in small group meetingsituations, or in situations where the meeting attendees already knoweach other, since conventional social protocol will dictate permissionsfor when it is acceptable for an given audience member to transfer acopy of an information object to the public display device.

In large group meeting situations, or in situations where the meetingattendees don't know each other, the following alternate embodiment ofthe information sharing democratization technique described herein ispossible which is based on a “package metaphor” mode that can beselectively enabled and subsequently disabled on the central computingdevice by a responsible person. As exemplified in FIGS. 6B and 6C,whenever the package metaphor mode is enabled, after the copy of theinformation object 610 has been received from the handheld computingdevice by the central computing device, the central computing devicewill display an icon 616 on the public display device 604 at thelocation of the location indicator 606 at the time the audience memberperformed the information-push touch gesture 608, where this icon servesas a surrogate for the information object. This icon 616 is hereaftersimply referred to as a “package icon.” The package icon 616 canoptionally include a first text label (not shown) that specifies whichaudience member transferred the copy of the information object to thepublic display device. Whenever the audience member transfers copies ofa plurality of information objects in sequence from their touch-enabledhandheld computing device to a public display device, the plurality ofinformation objects will be represented by a single package icon (i.e.,the plurality of information objects will be grouped into a single“package”) which will include a second text label that specifies thenumber of different information objects that were transferred. Anypresenter can locally interact with the package icon 616 on the publicdisplay device at their leisure in various ways including, but notlimited to, the following.

FIGS. 7A-7C illustrate an exemplary embodiment, in simplified form, ofan information sharing democratization technique for allowing apresenter to locally interact with information objects that werepreviously transferred to the public display device by an audiencemember. As exemplified in FIG. 7A, a package icon 700 is displayed onthe public display device 702, where the package icon includes a firsttext label 704 that specifies which audience member (in this case John)transferred the information objects to the public display device, and asecond text label 706 that specifies the number of different informationobjects (in this case 3) that were transferred.

As exemplified in FIG. 7B, whenever a condition occurs where thepresenter hovers their hand 708 over the package icon 700 for aprescribed period of time (e.g., two seconds), the skeletal trackingapplication running on the central computing device will operatecooperatively with the presenter-oriented object sensing device toidentify this condition, and a scaled-down preview version 710 of theone or more information objects that were transferred to the publicdisplay device 702 will be revealed to the presenter. Whenever anothercondition occurs where the presenter stops hovering their hand 708 overthe package icon 700, the scaled-down preview version 710 of theinformation objects will stop being revealed. As exemplified in FIG. 7C,whenever the presenter taps 712 on the package icon, the one or moreinformation objects 714 represented by the icon will be displayed on thepublic display device so these information objects can be publiclyviewed by the audience members.

In another exemplary embodiment of the information sharingdemocratization technique described herein an audience member who isusing either a tablet computer or touch-enabled laptop computer(hereafter collectively simply referred to as a touch-enablednon-handheld computing device) can remotely transfer (i.e., push) a copyof an information object from the non-handheld computing device to thepublic display device in the following manner. Whenever anothercondition occurs where the audience member forms the remote locationindicator posture using one of their arms and remotely points thisposture at a desired location on the public display device, the skeletaltracking application will operate cooperatively with theaudience-oriented object sensing device to identify this condition andalso identify that the audience member who is forming this posture isusing the non-handheld computing device. The central computing devicewill then enable the remote location indicator mode and display thelocation indicator on the public display device, where the position ofthe location indicator on the public display device corresponds to wherethis posture is being pointed. The audience member can thus use theremote location indicator posture to remotely and precisely point ateither a desired location on the public display device or a particularinformation object that is being displayed on the public display device.

The central computing device will also transmit a command to thenon-handheld computing device being used by the audience memberinstructing it to enable the remote location indicator mode. Uponreceiving this command from the central computing device, thenon-handheld computing device can optionally display the touch gesturedisclosure overlay on its display screen (which serves as a visualindication to the audience member that their non-handheld computingdevice is now in the remote location indicator mode). The centralcomputing device and non-handheld computing device will remain in theremote location indicator mode, and the central computing device willcontinue to display the location indicator on the public display device,for as long as the audience member maintains the remote locationindicator posture and points it at the public display device.

Generally speaking, whenever the remote location indicator mode isenabled and the audience member performs an allowed touch gesture on thedisplay screen of their non-handheld computing device, the non-handheldcomputing device will transmit a command to the central computing devicethat is associated with this touch gesture. Upon receiving this commandfrom the non-handheld computing device, the central computing devicewill execute the command. By way of example but not limitation, wheneverthe audience member uses their other arm to perform the information-pushtouch gesture on a particular information object that is displayed onthe display screen of their non-handheld computing device, thenon-handheld computing device will transmit a copy of the informationobject to the central computing device. After the copy of theinformation object has been received from the non-handheld computingdevice by the central computing device, in one embodiment of theinformation sharing democratization technique described herein thecentral computing device will display a scaled-down version of theinformation object on the public display device, and any presenter caninteract with this information object as described heretofore. In analternate embodiment of the information sharing democratizationtechnique where the package metaphor mode has been enabled, the centralcomputing device will display the package icon representing theinformation object on the public display device, and any presenter caninteract with this package icon as also described heretofore.

FIGS. 8A-8C illustrate an exemplary embodiment, in simplified form, ofan information sharing democratization technique for allowing anaudience member who is using a touch-enabled non-handheld computingdevice to remotely transfer (i.e., pull) a copy of an information objectfrom the public display device to the non-handheld computing device. Asexemplified in FIG. 8A, whenever another condition occurs where theaudience member forms the remote location indicator posture 800 andremotely points 804 this posture at the public display device 810, theskeletal tracking application will operate cooperatively with theaudience-oriented object sensing device to identify this condition andalso identify that the audience member who is forming this posture isusing the non-handheld computing device 812. The central computingdevice will then enable the remote location indicator mode and displaythe location indicator 806 on the information object 808 as describedheretofore. The central computing device will also transmit a command tothe non-handheld computing device 812 being used by the audience memberinstructing it to enable the remote location indicator mode. Uponreceiving this command from the central computing device, thenon-handheld computing device 812 can optionally display the touchgesture disclosure overlay 814 on its display screen 816.

As exemplified in FIG. 8B, whenever the remote location indicator modeis enabled and the audience member remotely points 804 the remotelocation indicator posture 800 at a particular information object 808that is displayed on the public display device 810, and they thenperform the information-pull touch gesture 822 on the display screen 816of their non-handheld computing device 812, the non-handheld computingdevice will transmit an information-pull command to the centralcomputing device, where this command requests that a copy of theparticular information object be transferred to the non-handheldcomputing device. Upon receiving this command from the non-handheldcomputing device 812, the central computing device will transmit a copyof the particular information object 808 to the non-handheld computingdevice. As exemplified in FIG. 8C, after the copy of the informationobject 808 has been received by the non-handheld computing device 812, ascaled-down version of the information object 824 will be displayed willbe displayed on the non-handheld computing device's display screen 816at the approximate location where the information-pull touch gesture wasperformed. At this point, the audience member can stop forming theremote location indicator posture 800 and can locally interact with thecopy of the information object on their non-handheld computing device812 at their leisure. The context menu (not shown) can optionally alsobe displayed on the non-handheld computing device's display screen 816,where this menu informs the audience member of the various operationsthey can perform on the information object 824. The audience member canalso locally manipulate the information object 824 in other waysincluding, but not limited to, performing conventional pinch touchgestures (not shown) to resize the information object.

1.4.2 Transient Sharing with Pointing and Accelerometers

This section describes exemplary embodiments of information sharingdemocratization techniques for allowing an audience member to briefly(i.e., transiently) show an information object to the rest of themeeting attendees (e.g., the equivalent of the audience member brieflyholding up a piece of paper to the rest of the meeting attendees). Thiscapability can be useful in various group meeting scenarios including,but not limited to, the following. Consider a scenario where a projectteam is holding a group meeting to discuss a project they are working onand a question or problem arises during the meeting. One of the audiencemembers may use their touch-enabled portable personal computing deviceduring the meeting to work on producing an answer or solution. Once theyhave produced an answer or solution, they can publicly share it with therest of the meeting attendees.

FIGS. 9A and 9B illustrate an exemplary embodiment, in simplified form,of an information sharing democratization technique for allowing anaudience member who is using a handheld computing device to transientlyand publicly share the current contents of its display screen with allthe other meeting attendees. As exemplified in FIG. 9A, whenever theaudience member is “normally” using the handheld computing device 900the contents of its display screen 902 is kept private to the audiencemember (i.e., these contents are not displayed on the public displaydevice 904). As exemplified in FIG. 9B, whenever a condition occurswhere the audience member forms a device sharing posture 906 with thehandheld computing device 900 and remotely points this posture at thepublic display device 904, the following things will happen. Theskeletal tracking application running on the central computing devicewill operate cooperatively with the audience-oriented object sensingdevice to identify this condition, a physical orientation sensing deviceincluded within the handheld computing device 900 (e.g., anaccelerometer, or the combination of an accelerometer and a gyroscope,or the combination of an accelerometer and a gyroscope and amagnetometer) will sense that the handheld computing device is in aprescribed spatial orientation, both the central computing device andhandheld computing device will enable a transient sharing mode, and thehandheld computing device will transmit a copy of the current contentsof its display screen 912 to the central computing device.

Generally speaking and referring again to FIG. 9B, the device sharingposture 906 can be implemented using any type of posture that involvesthe audience member holding the handheld computing device 900, and isrecognizable by the combination of the audience-oriented object sensingdevice and skeletal tracking application, and is differentiable from theother postures describe herein. By way of example but not limitation, inthe particular technique embodiment exemplified in FIG. 9B the devicesharing posture 906 is implemented as an arm 908 of the audience memberbeing extended away from their body with the handheld computing device900 being held in the hand 910 of the arm such that the handheldcomputing device is approximately perpendicular to the floor of themeeting space. As such, in this particular technique embodiment theprescribed spatial orientation is the handheld computing device beingapproximately perpendicular to the floor of the meeting space. Thehandheld computing device 900 can be held in either a portrait screenorientation (as exemplified in FIG. 9B) or landscape screen orientation(not shown). Alternate embodiments of the information sharingdemocratization technique described herein are possible where the screenorientation of the handheld computing device can be used for differentpurposes such as determining a default action or a particular mode ofuse.

Referring again to FIG. 9B, after the copy of the current contents ofthe handheld computing device's display screen 912 have been receivedfrom the handheld computing device by the central computing device, thecentral computing device will display these contents in the form of anoverlay 914 on the public display device 904. The central computingdevice and handheld computing device 900 will remain in the transientsharing mode, and the central computing device will continue to displaythe overlay 914 on the public display device 904, for as long as theaudience member maintains the device sharing posture 906 and points itat the public display device. Whenever the central computing device andhandheld computing device are in the transient sharing mode, thehandheld computing device 900 will transmit any changes in the contentsof its display screen 912 to the central computing device, and thecentral computing device will accordingly update the overlay 914 withthese changes. Thus, the current contents of the handheld computingdevice's display screen 912 will be shared transiently with all of themeeting attendees for as long as the audience member continues to formthe device sharing posture 906.

Referring again to FIG. 9B, whenever the transient sharing mode isenabled and another condition occurs where the audience member eitherstops forming the device sharing posture 906 or points it away from thepublic display device 904 (e.g., whenever the audience member puts thehandheld computing device down, among other things), the skeletaltracking application will operate cooperatively with theaudience-oriented object sensing device to identify this condition, thecentral computing device and handheld computing device 900 will disablethe transient sharing mode, and the central computing device will removethe overlay 914 from the public display device 904. During the time theoverlay 914 is displayed on the public display device 904, a presenter(not shown) can make the overlay a permanent part of the public displaydevice in the following manner. Whenever this presenter touches theoverlay and touch-drags it in any direction along the public displaydevice, the gesture identification application that is running on thecentral computing device will identify this touch-dragging activity, andtransform the overlay into a scaled-down version thereof, and replacethe overlay with this scaled-down version, and move the location of thisscaled-down version on the public display device based on thistouch-dragging activity.

In another exemplary embodiment of the information sharingdemocratization technique described herein an audience member who isusing a touch-enabled non-handheld computing device can transiently andpublicly share the current contents of its display screen with all theother meeting attendees in the following manner. Whenever anothercondition occurs where the audience member forms the remote draggingposture and remotely points this posture at the public display device,the skeletal tracking application will operate cooperatively with theaudience-oriented object sensing device to identify this condition andalso identify that the audience member who is forming this posture isusing the non-handheld computing device. The central computing devicewill then enable the transient sharing mode, and will also transmit acommand to the non-handheld computing device being used by the audiencemember instructing it to enable the transient sharing mode. Whenever thetransient sharing mode is enabled and the audience member touches thedisplay screen of their non-handheld computing device, the non-handheldcomputing device will transmit a copy of the current contents of itsdisplay screen to the central computing device. After the copy of thecurrent contents of the non-handheld computing device's display screenhave been received from the non-handheld computing device by the centralcomputing device, the central computing device will display thesecontents in the form of an overlay on the public display device.

The central computing device and touch-enabled non-handheld computingdevice will remain in the transient sharing mode, and the centralcomputing device will continue to display the overlay on the publicdisplay device, for as long as the audience member maintains the remotedragging posture and points it at the public display device. Wheneverthe transient sharing mode is enabled, the non-handheld computing devicewill transmit any changes in the contents of its display screen to thecentral computing device, and the central computing device willaccordingly update the overlay with these changes. Thus, the currentcontents of the non-handheld computing device's display screen will beshared transiently with all of the meeting attendees for as long as theaudience member continues to form the remote dragging posture and pointsit at the public display device. Whenever the transient sharing mode isenabled and another condition occurs where the audience member eitherstops forming the remote dragging posture or points it away from thepublic display device, the skeletal tracking application will operatecooperatively with the audience-oriented object sensing device toidentify this condition, the central computing device and non-handheldcomputing device will disable the transient sharing mode, and thecentral computing device will remove the overlay from the public displaydevice. During the time the overlay is displayed on the public displaydevice, a presenter can make the overlay a permanent part of the publicdisplay device in the in the manner just described.

1.4.3 Peer-to-Peer Transferring of Information Objects

This section describes exemplary embodiments of information sharingdemocratization techniques for allowing the meeting attendees totransfer a copy of an information object from the personal computingdevice of one meeting attendee to the personal computing device ofanother meeting attendee. It will be appreciated that this informationtransfer can be made either from one audience member to another, or froman audience member to a presenter, or vice versa.

In one embodiment of the information sharing democratization techniquedescribed herein a first audience member who is using a touch-enablednon-handheld computing device can remotely transfer (i.e., push) a copyof an information object from the non-handheld computing device to apersonal computing device that is associated with a second audiencemember in the following manner. Whenever a condition occurs where thefirst audience member forms the remote location indicator posture andremotely points this posture at the second audience member, the skeletaltracking application running on the central computing device willoperate cooperatively with the audience-oriented object sensing deviceto identify this condition, identify that the first audience member whois forming this posture is using the non-handheld computing device,identify the second audience member, and identify the personal computingdevice that is associated with the second audience member. Thisassociation between the personal computing device and second audiencemember can be established in various ways. By way of example but notlimitation, the association can be programmed into a user profile forthe second audience member on the central computing device. Theassociation can also be established by sensing the physical location ofeach of the personal computing devices and each of the meeting attendeesin the meeting space, and then associating a given meeting attendee withthe personal computing device(s) that is within a prescribed distance(e.g., three feet) thereof. The central computing device will alsoenable a peer-to-peer transfer mode and will remain in this mode for aslong as the first audience member maintains the remote locationindicator posture and points it at the second audience member.

Whenever the peer-to-peer transfer mode is enabled, the first audiencemember can perform the information-push touch gesture on a particularinformation object that is displayed on the display screen of theirtouch-enabled non-handheld computing device, which will cause thenon-handheld computing device to transmit a copy of the informationobject to the central computing device. Upon receiving the copy of theinformation object from the non-handheld computing device, the centralcomputing device will forward it to the personal computing device thatis associated with the second audience member. After the copy of theinformation object has been received by this personal computing device,it can display a package icon on its display screen which serves as asurrogate for the information object. The package icon can optionallyinclude a text label which specifies that the information object wasreceived from the first audience member. The second audience member canthen tap on the package icon at their leisure to display the informationobject represented by the icon. Whenever the peer-to-peer transfer modeis enabled and another condition occurs where the first audience membereither stops forming the remote location indicator posture or points itaway from the second audience member, the skeletal tracking applicationwill operate cooperatively with the audience-oriented object sensingdevice to identify this condition, and the central computing device willdisable the peer-to-peer transfer mode.

In another embodiment of the information sharing democratizationtechnique described herein a third audience member who is using atouch-enabled handheld computing device can remotely transfer (i.e.,push) a copy of an information object from the handheld computing deviceto the personal computing device that is associated with the secondaudience member in the following manner. Whenever another conditionoccurs where the third audience member forms the device pointing posturewith the handheld computing device and remotely points this posture atthe second audience member, the skeletal tracking application willoperate cooperatively with the audience-oriented object sensing deviceto identify this condition, identify that the third audience member whois forming this posture is using the handheld computing device, identifythe second audience member, and identify the personal computing devicethat is associated with the second audience member. The centralcomputing device will also enable the peer-to-peer transfer mode andwill remain in this mode for as long as the third audience membermaintains the device pointing posture and points it at the secondaudience member.

Whenever the peer-to-peer transfer mode is enabled, the third audiencemember can perform the information-push touch gesture on a particularinformation object that is displayed on the display screen of thehandheld computing device, which will cause the handheld computingdevice to transmit a copy of the information object to the centralcomputing device. Upon receiving the copy of the information object fromthe handheld computing device, the central computing device will forwardit to the personal computing device that is associated with the secondaudience member. After the copy of the information object has beenreceived by this personal computing device, it will display the packageicon on its display screen which serves as a surrogate for theinformation object. The second audience member can then tap on thepackage icon at their leisure to display the information objectrepresented by the icon. Whenever the peer-to-peer transfer mode isenabled and another condition occurs where the third audience membereither stops forming the remote location indicator posture or points itaway from the second audience member, the skeletal tracking applicationwill operate cooperatively with the audience-oriented object sensingdevice to identify this condition, and the central computing device willdisable the peer-to-peer transfer mode. It is noted that theinformation-push touch gesture can be performed either uni-manually(e.g., with the same hand that is holding the handheld computing device)or bi-manually (e.g., with a different hand than the one that is holdingthe handheld computing device).

In addition to the two different information sharing democratizationtechnique embodiments for allowing one audience member to transfer acopy of an information object to another audience member that were justdescribed, an alternate embodiment of the information sharingdemocratization technique described herein is also possible where theinformation transfer can take place between an audience member and apresenter. In this case the skeletal tracking application will operatecooperatively with both the audience-oriented and presenter-orientedobject sensing devices to perform the various identification operationsjust described. Another alternate embodiment of the information sharingdemocratization technique is also possible where the informationtransfer can take place between two different presenters. In this casethe skeletal tracking application will operate cooperatively with justthe presenter-oriented object sensing device to perform the variousidentification operations just described. In a situation where the twomeeting attendees involved in the information transfer are directly nextto one another, it will be appreciated that it may be infeasible for onemeeting attendee to point at the other meeting attendee. In thissituation conventional methods which are intended to support veryshort-range sharing of information objects can be used to allow onemeeting attendee to transfer a copy of an information object to theother meeting attendee. Examples of such conventional methods includethe Bump application for smartphones, the stitching method which usespen gestures that span a plurality of displays, and the pick-and-dropmethod, among others.

1.4.4 Transferring Information Objects from Public Display Device toAudience

This section describes exemplary embodiments of information sharingdemocratization techniques for allowing a presenter to transfer a copyof an information object that is displayed on the public display deviceto one or more audience members.

In one embodiment of the information sharing democratization techniquedescribed herein a presenter can remotely transfer (i.e., push) a copyof an information object that is displayed on the public display deviceto a personal computing device that is associated with a particularaudience member in the following manner. Whenever a condition occurswhere the presenter forms the remote location indicator posture usingone of their hands and remotely points this posture at the particularaudience member, the skeletal tracking application running on thecentral computing device will operate cooperatively with both theaudience-oriented object sensing device and presenter-oriented objectsensing device to identify this condition, identify the particularaudience member, and identify the personal computing device that isassociated with the audience member, where this association has beenpreviously programmed into a user profile for the audience member on thecentral computing device. The central computing device will also enablea presenter-to-audience-member transfer mode and will remain in thismode for as long as the presenter maintains the remote locationindicator posture and points it at the audience member. Whenever thepresenter-to-audience-member transfer mode is enabled and anothercondition occurs where the presenter either stops forming the remotelocation indicator posture or points it away from the audience member,the skeletal tracking application will operate cooperatively with boththe audience-oriented and presenter-oriented object sensing devices toidentify this condition, and the central computing device will disablethe presenter-to-audience-member transfer mode.

Whenever the presenter-to-audience-member transfer mode is enabled andanother condition occurs where the presenter maintains the remotelocation indicator posture which is being pointed at the particularaudience member for a prescribed period of time (e.g., two seconds), andduring this period of time the presenter's other hand is within aprescribed distance (e.g., two meters) of the public display device'sdisplay screen, the skeletal tracking application will operatecooperatively with both the audience-oriented and presenter-orientedobject sensing devices to identify this condition, and the centralcomputing device will display a first touch gesture disclosure overlayaround the presenter on the public display device, where this overlayincludes one or more different graphical icons each of which discloses adifferent rectilinear, mark-based touch gesture that is allowed to beperformed by the presenter on the public display device's displayscreen. This overlay can also include text that is displayed alongsideeach graphical icon, where this text discloses a particular action orcommand that is associated with each touch gesture. Whenever thepresenter-to-audience-member transfer mode is enabled, the presenter canperform the information-push touch gesture on an information object thatis displayed on the display screen of the public display device, whichwill cause the central computing device to transmit a copy of theinformation object to the personal computing device that is associatedwith the audience member.

In another embodiment of the information sharing democratizationtechnique described herein the presenter can remotely transfer (i.e.,push) a copy of an information object that is displayed on the publicdisplay device to the personal computing devices that are associatedwith all of the audience members in the following manner. Whenever thepresenter-to-audience-member transfer mode is disabled and anothercondition occurs where the presenter forms the remote location indicatorposture using one of their hands and remotely points this posture awayfrom the public display device and at the floor of the meeting space,the skeletal tracking application will operate cooperatively with boththe audience-oriented and presenter-oriented object sensing devices toidentify this condition, identify the audience members, and identify thepersonal computing device that is associated with each of the audiencemembers. The central computing device will also enable apresenter-to-entire-audience transfer mode and will remain in this modefor as long as the presenter maintains the remote location indicatorposture and points it away from the public display device and at thefloor. Whenever the presenter-to-entire-audience transfer mode isenabled and another condition occurs where the presenter either stopsforming the remote location indicator posture or stops pointing it awayfrom the public display device and at the floor, the skeletal trackingapplication will operate cooperatively with both the audience-orientedand presenter-oriented object sensing devices to identify thiscondition, and the central computing device will disable thepresenter-to-entire-audience transfer mode.

Whenever the presenter-to-entire-audience transfer mode is enabled andanother condition occurs where the presenter maintains the remotelocation indicator posture which is being pointed away from the publicdisplay device and at the floor for a prescribed period of time (e.g.,two seconds), and during this period of time the presenter's other handis within the prescribed distance of the public display device's displayscreen, the skeletal tracking application will operate cooperativelywith both the audience-oriented and presenter-oriented object sensingdevices to identify this condition, and the central computing devicewill display a second touch gesture disclosure overlay around thepresenter on the public display device, where this overlay includes theaforementioned one or more different graphical icons and a visual cueindicating that any information object that is transferred from thepublic display device will be broadcast to all of the audience members.This overlay can also include the aforementioned text that is displayedalongside each graphical icon. Whenever the presenter-to-entire-audiencetransfer mode is enabled the presenter can perform the information-pushtouch gesture on an information object that is displayed on the publicdisplay device's display screen, which will cause the central computingdevice to transmit a copy of the information object to the personalcomputing device that is associated with each of the audience members.

1.5 Enriching Use of Public Display Device with Skeletal Tracking

This section describes exemplary embodiments of information sharingdemocratization techniques which enrich the experience of using thepublic display device for presenters.

1.5.1 Sensing Social Context

In an exemplary embodiment of the information sharing democratizationtechnique described herein the skeletal tracking application running onthe central computing device can operate cooperatively with thepresenter-oriented and audience-oriented object sensing devices toidentify how many presenters and how many audience members are in themeeting space at any given point in time. As will now be described inmore detail, the central computing device can use this information todetect various social contexts and then assign a prescribed mode ofoperation based on the particular social context that is detected at agiven point in time. Exemplary modes of operation include, but are notlimited to, the following.

Whenever a condition occurs where there are no meeting attendees in themeeting space (i.e., there are no presenters and no audience members),the skeletal tracking application running on the central computingdevice will operate cooperatively with both the audience-oriented andpresenter-oriented object sensing devices to identify this condition,the central computing device will enable an ambient display mode, andthe central computing device will display one or more defaultinformation objects on the public display device. Exemplary defaultinformation objects include a calendar for the group meetings that arescheduled in the meeting space for the current day or week, and a listof current software bug counts for each software development teammember, among others. The central computing device will remain in theambient display mode for as long as there are no meeting attendees inthe meeting space. Whenever the ambient display mode is enabled and ameeting attendee enters the meeting space, the meeting attendee cantransfer (i.e., pull) a copy of a default information object from thepublic display device to their touch-enabled portable personal computingdevice in the various manners described heretofore.

Whenever the ambient display mode is enabled and another conditionoccurs where one or more meeting attendees enter and remain in themeeting space for a prescribed period of time (e.g., two minutes), theskeletal tracking application will operate cooperatively with both theaudience-oriented and presenter-oriented object sensing devices toidentify this condition, the central computing device will disable theambient display mode, and the central computing device will remove thedefault information objects from the public display device. Whenever theambient display mode is enabled and a one of the one or more meetingattendees either locally performs an allowed touch gesture on thedisplay screen of the public display device, or remotely performs anallowed in-air gesture on this display screen, the central computingdevice will also disable the ambient display mode and remove the defaultinformation objects from the public display device.

Whenever another condition occurs where there is just one presenter andthey are facing toward the audience (i.e., the presenter is facing awayfrom the public display device), the skeletal tracking application willoperate cooperatively with the presenter-oriented object sensing deviceto identify this condition, the central computing device will enable asingle-speaking-presenter mode, and the central computing device willhide all user interface elements that specifically support the presenterthat are currently being displayed on the public display device (such asthe posture palettes described hereafter, among others). This isadvantageous since the presenter is not looking at these user interfaceelements and they can obscure the audience's view of other informationobjects being displayed on the public display device. The centralcomputing device will remain in the single-speaking-presenter mode foras long as there is just one presenter and they are facing toward theaudience.

Whenever another condition occurs where there is just one presenter andthey are facing toward the public display device enough to see itscontents, the skeletal tracking application will operate cooperativelywith the presenter-oriented object sensing device to identify thiscondition, the central computing device will enable asingle-working-presenter mode, and the central computing device willdisplay one or more of the aforementioned user interface elements thatsupport the presenter. The central computing device will remain in thesingle-working-presenter mode for as long as there is just one presenterand they are facing toward the public display device.

FIG. 10 illustrates an exemplary embodiment, in simplified form, of aninformation sharing democratization technique for allowing two or morepresenters to locally, independently and concurrently manipulate theinformation that is displayed on the public display device. Asexemplified in FIG. 10, whenever another condition occurs where thereare two or more presenters 1000 and 1002 and they are facing toward thepublic display device enough to see its contents, the skeletal trackingapplication will operate cooperatively with the presenter-orientedobject sensing device to identify this condition, and the centralcomputing device will enable a multi-working presenters mode whichoperates as follows. Whenever the multi-working presenters mode isenabled, the central computing device will segment the display screen ofthe public display device 1004 into a number of different regions 1006and 1008, where this number equals a count of how many presenters 1000and 1002 there currently are who are facing toward the public displaydevice enough to see its contents, and each different region ispositioned approximately in front of a different presenter. The centralcomputing device will display a splitter graphical element 1010 betweenadjacent regions 1006 and 1008, where the splitter graphical elementserves to visually depict the boundaries between the adjacent regionsand communicate to all of the meeting attendees that the public displaydevice 1004 is operating in the multi-working presenters mode.

Referring again to FIG. 10, each of the different regions 1006 and 1008on the public display device 1004 provide the presenter that is facingtoward the region the ability to independently manipulate (via touchgestures on the region) the underlying information content that wasbeing displayed on the public display device at the time the centralcomputing device enabled the multi-working presenters mode. As such,whenever the multi-working presenters mode is enabled a given one of thetwo or more presenters (e.g., presenter 1000) can perform touch gestureson the region 1008 that is in front of them to independently pan theregion across the underlying information content, or open an informationobject that is displayed in the region, among other things. It will beappreciated that the multi-working presenters mode is advantageous sinceit eliminates the contention issues that can arise whenever two or morepresenters want to manipulate the public display device at the sametime. Whenever the multi-working presenters mode is enabled and anothercondition occurs where there are no longer two or more presenters thatare facing toward the public display device 1004 enough to see itscontents, the skeletal tracking application will operate cooperativelywith the presenter-oriented object sensing device to identify thiscondition, the central computing device will disable the multi-workingpresenters mode, and the central computing device will remove thedifferent regions 1006 and 1008 and the splitter graphical element 1010from the public display device.

Whenever another condition occurs where there are no presenters andthere are one or more audience members, the skeletal trackingapplication will operate cooperatively with the audience-oriented andpresenter-oriented object sending devices to identify this condition,and the central computing device will enter an audience-only mode whichoperates as follows. Whenever the audience-only mode is enabled, and thepackage metaphor mode is also enabled, and the central computing devicedisplays a package icon on the public display device (which indicatesthat an audience member remotely transferred (i.e., pushed) copies ofone or more information objects from their portable personal computingdevice to the public display device as described heretofore), thecentral computing device will automatically display the informationobjects that were transferred on the public display device. This isadvantageous since there is currently no presenter at the public displaydevice who can hover their hand over or tap on the package icon asdescribed heretofore. Whenever the audience-only mode is enabled and apresenter arrives at the public display device, the skeletal trackingapplication will operate cooperatively with the audience-oriented andpresenter-oriented object sending devices to identify this condition,and the central computing device will disable the audience-only mode.

1.5.2 Tertiary Projected Display

FIGS. 11A-11C illustrate an exemplary embodiment, in simplified form, ofan information sharing democratization technique for allowing apresenter to transfer an information object from the public displaydevice to a tertiary display region which is optically projected via anoptical projection device onto a prescribed location on a tertiarysurface in the meeting space that is near the public display device asdescribed heretofore. As will be appreciated from the more detaileddescription that follows, this technique embodiment is advantageoussince it allows the size of the public display device to be virtuallyexpanded in an easy, low cost and flexible manner.

As exemplified in FIG. 11A, whenever a condition occurs where apresenter forms the remote location indicator posture 1102 and points1106 this posture at the tertiary display region 1110, the skeletaltracking application running on the central computing device willoperate cooperatively with the presenter-oriented object sensing deviceto identify this condition, and the central computing device will enablea tertiary display mode. The tertiary display application running on thecentral computing device will then cause the optical projection devicein the meeting space to optically project the location indicator 1108within the tertiary display region 1110, where the position of thelocation indicator within the tertiary display region corresponds towhere the remote location indicator posture 1102 is currently beingpointed 1106. The central computing device will remain in the tertiarydisplay mode and continue to cause the optical projection device tooptically project the location indicator 1108 within the tertiarydisplay region 1110 for as long as the presenter maintains the remotelocation indicator posture 1102 and points 1106 it at the tertiarydisplay region. Whenever the tertiary display mode is enabled andanother condition occurs where the presenter either stops forming theremote location indicator posture 1102 or points it away from thetertiary display region 1110, the skeletal tracking application willoperate cooperatively with the presenter-oriented object sensing deviceto identify this condition, and the central computing device willdisable the tertiary display mode and cause the optical projectiondevice to remove the location indicator from the tertiary displayregion.

As exemplified in FIGS. 11B and 11C, whenever the tertiary display modeis enabled and the presenter performs the information-push touch gesture1116 on an information object 1118 that is displayed on the displayscreen of the public display device 1100, the tertiary displayapplication running on the central computing device will cause theoptical projection device to optically project the information object1120 within the tertiary display region 1110 and behind the locationindicator 1108, and the central computing device will remove theinformation object 1118 from the public display device 1100. Wheneverthe presenter subsequently performs the information-pull touch gesture(not shown) on the display screen 1122 of the public display device1100, the tertiary display application will cause the projection deviceto remove the information object from the display region, and thecentral computing device will re-display the information object on thepublic display device.

1.5.3 Adding Content to Public Display Device with Posture Palette

FIGS. 12A-120 illustrate an exemplary embodiment, in simplified form, ofan information sharing democratization technique for allowing apresenter to add information content to the public display device byusing a posture palette. As exemplified in FIGS. 12A and 12B, the term“posture palette” is used herein to refer to a palette of graphicalicons 1206 and an optional region of supporting text 1208 which aredisplayed on a touch-enabled public display device 1200 whenever thepresenter forms a palette generating posture 1202 and hovers thisposture over the display screen 1204 of the public display device for aprescribed period of time (e.g., two seconds). As will now be describedin more detail, the posture palette 1206/1208 can be used by thepresenter to add various types of information content to the displayscreen of the public display device. As will be appreciated from themore detailed description that follows, this technique embodiment isadvantageous since it eliminates having to use a toolbar on the publicdisplay device, which can result in the presenter having to walk infront of the public display device to reach distant commands.

As is exemplified in FIG. 12A, whenever a condition occurs where apresenter forms the palette generating posture 1202 and hovers thisposture over the display screen 1204 of the public display device 1200for the prescribed period of time, the skeletal tracking applicationrunning on the central computing device will operate cooperatively withthe presenter-oriented object sensing device to identify this condition,the central computing device will enable a palette mode and will alsodisplay the posture palette 1206/1208 on the display screen of thepublic display device in a prescribed position thereon that is adjacentto the current location of this posture. In order to visually indicateto all the meeting attendees that the palette mode is active, thecentral computing device can optionally also display a colored (e.g.,green) overlay (not shown) on the public display device 1200 in an areaimmediately surrounding the presenter, and can also optionally display acolored (e.g., red) shadow 1224 behind the palette generating posture1202. The shadow 1224 can be implemented in various ways. In anexemplary embodiment of the information sharing democratizationtechnique described herein the shadow 1224 is implemented as asemi-transparent overlay.

Generally speaking and referring again to FIG. 12A, the palettegenerating posture 1202 can be implemented using any type of posturethat is recognizable by the combination of the audience-oriented objectsensing device and skeletal tracking application, and is differentiablefrom the other postures described herein. By way of example but notlimitation, in the particular technique embodiment exemplified in FIG.12A the palette generating posture 1202 is implemented as a hand 1210 ofthe presenter having its palm open and all of its fingers 1212 spreadapart. In the implementation of the information sharing democratizationtechnique embodiment that is exemplified in FIG. 12A, the prescribedlocation is to the right of the palette generating posture 1202. It willbe appreciated that other implementations (not shown) of this techniqueembodiment are also possible where the prescribed location is eitherabove or to the left of the palette generating posture, among otherplaces.

Referring again to FIG. 12A, the central computing device will remain inthe palette mode and continue to display the posture palette 1206/1208on the display screen 1204 of the public display device 1200 for as longas the presenter maintains the palette generating posture 1202 andhovers it over the display screen. Whenever the palette mode is enabled,the skeletal tracking application will track the position of thepresenter and their palette generating posture 1202, and whenever thepresenter or this posture moves, the skeletal tracking application willcorrespondingly move the posture palette 1206/1208, colored overlayimmediately surrounding the presenter, and colored shadow 1224 behindpalette generating posture 1202 on the public display device. Thisallows the presenter to reposition the posture palette 1206/1208 on thepublic display device 1200 as needed without having to touch the publicdisplay device (i.e., the presenter can move the posture palette closerto their other hand 1214 when needed and then move the posture paletteaway from their other hand when needed).

As exemplified in FIG. 12B, the presenter can use the posture palette1206/1208 to add various items of information content to the publicdisplay device 1200 in the following manner. Each graphical icon in theposture palette 1206/1208 represents a different item of informationcontent that the presenter may choose to add to the display screen 1204of the public display device 1200. Whenever the palette mode is enabledand the presenter touches a particular graphical icon 1216 in theposture palette 1206 and then touch-drags this icon out of the posturepalette and onto the display screen 1204 by performing a touch-draggingmovement 1218 on the display screen, the central computing device willtrack the touch-dragging movement and display the particular informationobject 1220 that is associated with particular graphical icon on thedisplay screen behind the current location of the touch-draggingmovement. As exemplified in FIG. 12C, whenever the palette mode isenabled and another condition occurs where the presenter either stopsforming the palette generating posture or stops hovering it over thedisplay screen 1204 of the public display device 1200, the skeletaltracking application will operate cooperatively with thepresenter-oriented object sensing device to identify this condition, andthe central computing device will disable the palette mode and removethe posture palette from the display screen. Whenever the presenterstops performing the touch-dragging movement 1218 and removes theirtouch from the display screen 1204, the information object 1220 willcontinue to be displayed on the display screen.

It is noted that rather than the presenter bi-manually using the posturepalette to add information content to the public display device as justdescribed, an alternate embodiment of the information sharingdemocratization technique described herein is also possible where thepresenter can uni-manually use the posture palette (i.e., with the samehand that is forming the palette generating posture). More particularly,after forming the palette generating posture using one hand and hoveringthis posture over the display screen as described heretofore, thepresenter can then tap on the display screen using this same hand whichwill cause the posture palette to be pinned in a fixed position on thedisplay screen where tap occurred. Once the posture palette is pinned,the presenter can then use this same hand to touch a particulargraphical icon in the posture palette and touch-drag this icon out ofthe posture palette and onto the display screen as just described.

1.5.4 Posture-Moded Touch and Pen Gestures

FIG. 13 illustrates an exemplary embodiment, in simplified form, of aninformation sharing democratization technique for allowing a presenterto control an explicit touch gesture mode on the public display deviceby using a prescribed posture. As exemplified in FIG. 13, whenever acondition occurs where a presenter forms the palette generating posture1302 and hovers this posture over the display screen 1304 of the publicdisplay device 1300 for the prescribed period of time and the centralcomputing device enables the palette mode as described in theimmediately preceding section, and whenever the presenter then touches1308 a region of the display screen where nothing is currently beingdisplayed, the following things will happen. The central computingdevice will remove the posture palette (not shown) from the publicdisplay device 1300 (after which the presenter can stop forming thepalette generating posture 1302 or stop hovering it over the displayscreen 1304 of the public display device 1300). The central computingdevice will also disable the palette mode whenever the presenter stopstouching the display screen 1304.

Referring again to FIG. 13, whenever the presenter touches 1308 theregion of the display screen 1304 where nothing is currently beingdisplayed and holds this touch without moving it on the display screenfor a prescribed period of time (e.g., two seconds), the centralcomputing device will display a conventional hierarchic marking menu1310 which serves to guide the presenter through the various touchgestures that are allowed to be used on the display screen.Additionally, in the case where the presenter is already familiar withthe various touch gestures that are allowed and wants to manipulate theinformation content that is currently displayed on the public displaydevice 1300 rather than holding their touch 1308 on the display screen1304, they can immediately continue to execute one of the allowed touchgestures on the display screen.

It is noted that rather than the presenter bi-manually initiating thepalette mode and executing an allowed touch gesture on the displayscreen of the public display device as just described, an alternateembodiment of the information sharing democratization techniquedescribed herein is also possible where the presenter can uni-manually(i.e., with just a single hand) initiate the palette mode and execute anallowed touch gesture. More particularly, after forming the palettegenerating posture using one hand and hovering this posture over thedisplay screen as described heretofore, the presenter can then use oneor more fingers of the same hand to touch a region of the display screenwhere nothing is currently being displayed to either display thehierarchic marking menu or execute one of the allowed touch gestures onthe display screen.

1.5.5 Workflow Templates

This section describes an exemplary embodiment of an information sharingdemocratization technique which allows meeting attendees to organize(e.g., sort, or categorize, or compare, among other activities) a set ofinformation objects. As will be appreciated from the more detaileddescription that follows, this technique embodiment is advantageous invarious group meeting scenarios such as the aforementioned project teamgroup meetings which often involve assigning priorities to tasks,scheduling tasks, partitioning tasks among workers, and the like.

FIG. 14 illustrates exemplary embodiments, in simplified form, ofworkflow templates which can be displayed on the public display deviceand used by the meeting attendees to organize a set of informationobjects which are also displayed on this device. As exemplified in FIG.14, the workflow templates can include a three buckets template 1400, aperipheral buckets template 1402, a Venn diagram template 1404, aplanning grid template 1406, a pipeline template 1408, and a parallelpipeline template 1410, among others. Each of these templates includes aplurality of visual buckets (e.g., 1412, 1414, 1416, 1418, 1420, 1422and 1424) which are arranged in a different prescribed structure, whereeach bucket serves as a container into which a given information objectcan be placed using a touch-dragging gesture on the display screen ofthe public display device.

FIGS. 15A-15C illustrate an exemplary embodiment, in simplified form, ofan information sharing democratization technique for allowing apresenter to use the three buckets template to organize a set ofinformation objects which are displayed on the public display device.More particularly, FIG. 15A, illustrates a situation where the threebuckets template 1500 is displayed on the public display device (notshown) and the presenter has already moved a plurality of informationobjects into each of the three buckets (i.e., the presenter has alreadymoved information objects 1508-1510 into bucket 1504, informationobjects 1511 and 1512 into bucket 1505, and information objects1513-1515 into bucket 1502). As exemplified in FIGS. 15A-15C, wheneverthe presenter touches 1518 an information object 1516 that is displayedon the public display device but is not currently in a bucket, and thepresenter then touch-drags 1520 this information object into a desiredbucket 1506, the gesture identification application that is running onthe central computing device will identify this touch-dragging activity,a screen layout application that is also running on the centralcomputing device will automatically resize this information object andany information objects that were previously in the desired bucket 1511and 1512 so that they all fit in the desired bucket, and the centralcomputing device will display these resized information objects1522-1524 within the desired bucket.

It will be appreciated that the presenter can also use touch-dragginggestures on the display screen of the public display device to move agiven information object from one bucket to another, or move a giveninformation object out of a bucket it is current in and back onto thedisplay screen workspace (at which point the information object willreturn to its original size). The presenter can also use touch gesturesto zoom in on a specific bucket to examine its contents in greaterdetail. It will also be appreciated that in addition to the presenterbeing the one who performs the organization and other information objectmanipulation activities described in this section, an audience membercan also remotely perform these organization and manipulationactivities.

1.6 Process Framework

FIG. 16 illustrates one embodiment, in simplified form, of a process fordemocratizing information sharing during a co-located group meeting in ameeting space. As exemplified in FIG. 16, the process starts in block1600 with a condition occurring where an audience member forms theremote location indicator posture and remotely points it at the publicdisplay device. The central computing device then operates cooperativelywith the audience-oriented object sensing device to identify thiscondition (block 1602). The central computing device then enables theremote location indicator mode for as long as this condition continues(block 1604), and displays the location indicator on the public displaydevice in a position thereon corresponding to where the remote locationindicator posture is currently being pointed.

FIG. 17 illustrates another embodiment, in simplified form, of a processfor democratizing information sharing during a co-located group meetingin a meeting space. As exemplified in FIG. 17, the process starts inblock 1700 with a condition occurring where a presenter forms the remotelocation indicator posture and remotely points it at an audience member.The central computing device then operates cooperatively with both theaudience-oriented object sensing device and the presenter-orientedobject sensing device to identify this condition, identify the audiencemember, and identify a personal computing device that is associated withthe audience member (block 1702). The central computing device thenenables the presenter-to-audience-member transfer mode for as long asthis condition continues (block 1704). Then, whenever thepresenter-to-audience-member transfer mode is enabled and the presenterperforms the information-push touch gesture on an information objectthat is displayed on the display screen of the public display device,the central computing device will transmit a copy of the informationobject to the personal computing device that is associated with theaudience member (block 1706).

FIGS. 18A and 18B illustrate yet another embodiment, in simplified form,of a process for democratizing information sharing during a co-locatedgroup meeting in a meeting space. As exemplified in FIG. 18A, theprocess starts in block 1800 with a first condition occurring where afirst meeting attendee who is using a touch-enabled non-handheldcomputing device forms the remote location indicator posture andremotely points it at a second meeting attendee. The central computingdevice then operates cooperatively with an object sensing device in themeeting space to identify this first condition, identify the secondmeeting attendee, and identify the personal computing device that isassociated with the second meeting attendee (block 1802). The centralcomputing device then enables the peer-to-peer transfer mode for as longas this first condition continues (block 1804). Then, whenever thepeer-to-peer transfer mode is enabled and the first meeting attendeeperforms the information-push touch gesture on a first informationobject that is displayed on the display screen of the non-handheldcomputing device, the central computing device will receive a copy ofthe first information object from the non-handheld computing device andforward this copy to the personal computing device (block 1806).

As exemplified in FIG. 18B, whenever a second condition occurs where thepeer-to-peer transfer mode is disabled and a third meeting attendee whois using a touch-enabled handheld computing device forms the devicepointing posture and remotely points it at the second meeting attendee(block 1808), the central computing device will operate cooperativelywith the object sensing device to identify this second condition,identify the second meeting attendee, and identify the personalcomputing device that is associated with the second meeting attendee(block 1810). The central computing device then enables the peer-to-peertransfer mode for as long as this second condition continues (block1812). Then, whenever the peer-to-peer transfer mode is enabled and thethird meeting attendee performs the information-push touch gesture on asecond information object that is displayed on the display screen of thehandheld computing device, the central computing device will receive acopy of the second information object from the handheld computing deviceand forward this copy to the personal computing device (block 1814).

2.0 Additional Embodiments

While the information sharing democratization technique has beendescribed by specific reference to embodiments thereof, it is understoodthat variations and modifications thereof can be made without departingfrom the true spirit and scope of the information sharingdemocratization technique. By way of example but not limitation, inaddition to the various touch gesture disclosure overlays describedheretofore, an alternate embodiment of the information sharingdemocratization technique described herein is also possible where anonline learning system (such as the conventional GestureBar userinterface for learning gestural interactions, among others) canimplemented to disclose the various touch gestures and in-air gesturesthat are allowed to be performed. A given presenter or audience memberwho initiates one of the information sharing operations describe hereincan also be provided with haptic feedback when the sharing operation issuccessfully completed, where the nature of this feedback is adapted tothe characteristics of the particular device the presenter or audiencemember initiated the sharing operation from. The object sensing devicescan also be implemented in ways other than those described heretofore.By way of example but not limitation, the object sensing devices can beimplemented using the “Peanut” ultra-low-power, short-range wirelessradio technology configured to operate in a triangulation mode. Thisparticular implementation is advantageous in that the radio signalsgenerally won't pass through walls or other obstructions, so that thespace being sensed by the object sensing devices will correspond to thephysical dimensions of the meeting space.

Another alternate embodiment of the information sharing democratizationtechnique described herein is also possible where a large meeting spaceincludes a plurality of public display devices. In this techniqueembodiment a different presenter-oriented object sensing device can bepaired with each public display device so that the current physicallocation of any presenters who are adjacent to each public displaydevice can be identified, and the in-air gestures performed by andpostures formed by such presenters can also be identified. The touchgesture disclosure overlay that is displayed on the display screen ofthe touch-enabled handheld computing device can disclose a secondspatial operand which allows the audience member that is operating thisdevice to select which of the public display devices to control. Adifferent optical projection device can also be paired with each publicdisplay device. Yet another alternate embodiment of the informationsharing democratization technique described herein is also possiblewhere a large meeting space includes a plurality of audience-orientedobject sensing devices in order to support the identification of thecurrent physical location of the audience members, and theidentification of the in-air gestures performed by the audience members,and the identification of the postures formed by the audience members,among other things.

It is also noted that any or all of the aforementioned embodiments canbe used in any combination desired to form additional hybridembodiments. Although the information sharing democratization techniqueembodiments have been described in language specific to structuralfeatures and/or methodological acts, it is to be understood that thesubject matter defined in the appended claims is not necessarily limitedto the specific features or acts described heretofore. Rather, thespecific features and acts described heretofore are disclosed as exampleforms of implementing the claims.

3.0 Computing Environment

The information sharing democratization technique embodiments describedherein are operational within numerous types of general purpose orspecial purpose computing system environments or configurations. FIG. 19illustrates a simplified example of a general-purpose computer system onwhich various embodiments and elements of the information sharingdemocratization technique, as described herein, may be implemented. Itshould be noted that any boxes that are represented by broken or dashedlines in FIG. 19 represent alternate embodiments of the simplifiedcomputing device, and that any or all of these alternate embodiments, asdescribed below, may be used in combination with other alternateembodiments that are described throughout this document.

For example, FIG. 19 shows a general system diagram showing a simplifiedcomputing device 1900. Such computing devices can be typically be foundin devices having at least some minimum computational capability,including, but not limited to, personal computers (PCs), servercomputers, handheld computing devices, laptop or mobile computers,communications devices such as cell phones and personal digitalassistants (PDAs), multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-based systems,set top boxes, programmable consumer electronics, network PCs,minicomputers, mainframe computers, and audio or video media players.

To allow a device to implement the information sharing democratizationtechnique embodiments described herein, the device should have asufficient computational capability and system memory to enable basiccomputational operations. In particular, as illustrated by FIG. 19, thecomputational capability is generally illustrated by one or moreprocessing unit(s) 1910, and may also include one or more graphicsprocessing units (GPUs) 1915, either or both in communication withsystem memory 1920. Note that that the processing unit(s) 1910 may bespecialized microprocessors (such as a digital signal processor (DSP), avery long instruction word (VLIW) processor, or other micro-controller)or can be conventional central processing units (CPUs) having one ormore processing cores including, but not limited to, specializedGPU-based cores in a multi-core CPU.

In addition, the simplified computing device of FIG. 19 may also includeother components, such as, for example, a communications interface 1930.The simplified computing device of FIG. 19 may also include one or moreconventional computer input devices 1940 (e.g., pointing devices,keyboards, audio input devices, video input devices, haptic inputdevices, devices for receiving wired or wireless data transmissions, andthe like). The simplified computing device of FIG. 19 may also includeother optional components, such as, for example, one or moreconventional computer output devices 1950 (e.g., display device(s) 1955,audio output devices, video output devices, devices for transmittingwired or wireless data transmissions, and the like). Note that typicalcommunications interfaces 1930, input devices 1940, output devices 1950,and storage devices 1960 for general-purpose computers are well known tothose skilled in the art, and will not be described in detail herein.

The simplified computing device of FIG. 19 may also include a variety ofcomputer readable media. Computer readable media can be any availablemedia that can be accessed by computer 1900 via storage devices 1960,and includes both volatile and nonvolatile media that is eitherremovable 1970 and/or non-removable 1980, for storage of informationsuch as computer-readable or computer-executable instructions, datastructures, program modules, or other data. By way of example but notlimitation, computer readable media may include computer storage mediaand communication media. Computer storage media includes, but is notlimited to, computer or machine readable media or storage devices suchas digital versatile disks (DVDs), compact discs (CDs), floppy disks,tape drives, hard drives, optical drives, solid state memory devices,random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), electricallyerasable programmable read-only memory (EEPROM), flash memory or othermemory technology, magnetic cassettes, magnetic tapes, magnetic diskstorage, or other magnetic storage devices, or any other device whichcan be used to store the desired information and which can be accessedby one or more computing devices.

Storage of information such as computer-readable or computer-executableinstructions, data structures, program modules, and the like, can alsobe accomplished by using any of a variety of the aforementionedcommunication media to encode one or more modulated data signals orcarrier waves, or other transport mechanisms or communicationsprotocols, and includes any wired or wireless information deliverymechanism. Note that the terms “modulated data signal” or “carrier wave”generally refer a signal that has one or more of its characteristics setor changed in such a manner as to encode information in the signal. Forexample, communication media includes wired media such as a wirednetwork or direct-wired connection carrying one or more modulated datasignals, and wireless media such as acoustic, radio frequency (RF),infrared, laser, and other wireless media for transmitting and/orreceiving one or more modulated data signals or carrier waves.Combinations of the any of the above should also be included within thescope of communication media.

Furthermore, software, programs, and/or computer program productsembodying the some or all of the various embodiments of the informationsharing democratization technique described herein, or portions thereof,may be stored, received, transmitted, or read from any desiredcombination of computer or machine readable media or storage devices andcommunication media in the form of computer executable instructions orother data structures.

Finally, the information sharing democratization technique embodimentsdescribed herein may be further described in the general context ofcomputer-executable instructions, such as program modules, beingexecuted by a computing device. Generally, program modules includeroutines, programs, objects, components, data structures, and the like,that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstract datatypes. The information sharing democratization technique embodiments mayalso be practiced in distributed computing environments where tasks areperformed by one or more remote processing devices, or within a cloud ofone or more devices, that are linked through one or more communicationsnetworks. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may belocated in both local and remote computer storage media including mediastorage devices. Additionally, the aforementioned instructions may beimplemented, in part or in whole, as hardware logic circuits, which mayor may not include a processor.

Wherefore, what is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented process fordemocratizing information sharing during a co-located group meeting in ameeting space, comprising: using a computer to perform the followingprocess actions: whenever a first condition occurs comprising a meetingattendee who is not within a prescribed distance of a public displaydevice in the meeting space forming a remote location indicator postureand remotely pointing said posture at the public display device,operating cooperatively with an audience-oriented object sensing devicein the meeting space to identify the first condition, enabling a remotelocation indicator mode for as long as the first condition continues,and displaying a location indicator on the public display device in aposition thereon corresponding to where said posture is currently beingpointed.
 2. The process of claim 1, further comprising the actions of:whenever a second condition occurs comprising the meeting attendeeforming a remote dragging posture and remotely pointing said posture atthe public display device, operating cooperatively with theaudience-oriented object sensing device to identify the secondcondition, enabling a remote dragging mode for as long as the secondcondition continues, and displaying a dragging cursor on the publicdisplay device in a position thereon corresponding to where said postureis currently being pointed; and whenever the remote dragging mode isenabled and the meeting attendee points said posture at an informationobject that is displayed on the public display device and then changeswhere on the public display device said posture is being pointed,operating cooperatively with the object sensing device to track saidchanges and moving the information object on the public display deviceaccordingly.
 3. The process of claim 1, wherein the meeting attendee isusing a touch-enabled handheld computing device, further comprising theactions of: whenever a second condition occurs comprising the meetingattendee forming a device pointing posture with the handheld computingdevice and remotely pointing said posture at the public display device,operating cooperatively with the audience-oriented object sensing deviceto identify the second condition, enabling a device pointing mode for aslong as the second condition continues, and displaying the locationindicator on the public display device in a position thereoncorresponding to where said posture is currently being pointed; andwhenever the device pointing mode is enabled and the meeting attendeeperforms an allowed touch gesture on a display screen of the handheldcomputing device, receiving a command from the handheld computing devicethat is associated with said touch gesture and executing the command. 4.The process of claim 3, wherein the process action of whenever thedevice pointing mode is enabled and the meeting attendee performs anallowed touch gesture on a display screen of the handheld computingdevice, receiving a command from the handheld computing device that isassociated with said touch gesture and executing the command comprisesthe actions of: whenever the meeting attendee remotely points the devicepointing posture at an information object that is displayed on thepublic display device, and the meeting attendee then performs aninformation-pull touch gesture on said display screen, receiving aninformation-pull command from the handheld computing device, saidcommand requesting that a copy of the information object be transferredto the handheld computing device, and transmitting a copy of theinformation object to the handheld computing device.
 5. The process ofclaim 3, wherein the process action of whenever the device pointing modeis enabled and the meeting attendee performs an allowed touch gesture ona display screen of the handheld computing device, receiving a commandfrom the handheld computing device that is associated with said touchgesture and executing the command comprises the actions of: whenever themeeting attendee remotely points the device pointing posture at adesired location on the public display device, and the meeting attendeethen performs an information-push touch gesture on an information objectthat is displayed on said display screen, receiving a copy of saidinformation object from the handheld computing device, and either,displaying a scaled-down version of said information object at thedesired location on the public display device, or whenever a packagemetaphor mode is enabled, displaying an icon at the desired location onthe public display device, wherein the icon serves as a surrogate forsaid information object.
 6. The process of claim 3, further comprisingthe actions of: whenever the device pointing mode is enabled and a thirdcondition occurs comprising the second condition continuing for aprescribed period of time, operating cooperatively with theaudience-oriented object sensing device to identify the third condition,and transmitting a command to the handheld computing device instructingit to display a touch gesture disclosure overlay on its display screen,said overlay comprising one or more different graphical icons each ofwhich discloses a different rectilinear, mark-based touch gesture thatis allowed to be performed by the meeting attendee on said displayscreen.
 7. The process of claim 1, wherein the meeting attendee is usinga touch-enabled handheld computing device, further comprising theactions of: whenever a second condition occurs comprising the meetingattendee forming a device dragging posture with the handheld computingdevice and remotely pointing said posture at the public display device,operating cooperatively with the audience-oriented object sensing deviceto identify the second condition, enabling a device dragging mode for aslong as the second condition continues, and displaying a dragging cursoron the public display device in a position thereon corresponding towhere said posture is being pointed; and whenever the device draggingmode is enabled and the meeting attendee points said posture at aninformation object that is displayed on the public display device andthen changes where on the public display device said posture is beingpointed, operating cooperatively with the object sensing device to tracksaid changes and moving the information object on the public displaydevice accordingly.
 8. The process of claim 1, wherein the meetingattendee is using a touch-enabled handheld computing device, furthercomprising the actions of: whenever a second condition occurs comprisingthe meeting attendee forming a device annotating posture with thehandheld computing device and remotely pointing said posture at thepublic display device, operating cooperatively with theaudience-oriented object sensing device to identify the secondcondition, and enabling a remote annotation mode for as long as thesecond condition continues; whenever the remote annotation mode isenabled and the meeting attendee changes where on the public displaydevice said posture is being pointed, operating cooperatively with theobject sensing device to track said changes and drawing one or moreannotation marks on the public display device according to said changes.9. The process of claim 1, wherein the meeting attendee is using atouch-enabled non-handheld computing device, further comprising theaction of, whenever the remote location indicator mode is enabled andthe meeting attendee performs an allowed touch gesture on a displayscreen of the non-handheld computing device, receiving a command fromthe non-handheld computing device that is associated with said touchgesture and executing the command.
 10. The process of claim 9, whereinthe process action of whenever the remote location indicator mode isenabled and the meeting attendee performs an allowed touch gesture on adisplay screen of the non-handheld computing device, receiving a commandfrom the non-handheld computing device that is associated with saidtouch gesture and executing the command comprises the actions of:whenever the meeting attendee remotely points the remote locationindicator posture at a desired location on the public display device,and the meeting attendee then performs an information-push touch gestureon an information object that is displayed on said display screen,receiving a copy of said information object from the non-handheldcomputing device, and either, displaying a scaled-down version of saidinformation object at the desired location on the public display device,or whenever a package metaphor mode is enabled, displaying an icon atthe desired location on the public display device, wherein the iconserves as a surrogate for said information object.
 11. The process ofclaim 9, wherein the process action of whenever the remote locationindicator mode is enabled and the meeting attendee performs an allowedtouch gesture on a display screen of the non-handheld computing device,receiving a command from the non-handheld computing device that isassociated with said touch gesture and executing the command comprisesthe actions of: whenever the meeting attendee remotely points the remotelocation indicator posture at an information object that is displayed onthe public display device, and the meeting attendee then performs aninformation-pull touch gesture on said display screen, receiving aninformation-pull command from the non-handheld computing device, saidcommand requesting that a copy of said information object be transferredto the non-handheld computing device, and transmitting a copy of saidinformation object to the non-handheld computing device.
 12. The processof claim 1, wherein the meeting attendee is using a handheld computingdevice, further comprising the actions of: whenever a second conditionoccurs comprising the meeting attendee forming a device sharing posturewith the handheld computing device and remotely pointing said posture atthe public display device, operating cooperatively with theaudience-oriented object sensing device to identify the secondcondition, enabling a transient sharing mode for as long as the secondcondition continues, receiving a copy of the current contents of adisplay screen of the handheld computing device from the handheldcomputing device, and displaying said current contents in the form of anoverlay on the public display device.
 13. The process of claim 1,wherein the meeting attendee is using a touch-enabled non-handheldcomputing device, further comprising the actions of: whenever a secondcondition occurs comprising the meeting attendee forming a remotedragging posture and remotely pointing said posture at the publicdisplay device, operating cooperatively with the audience-orientedobject sensing device to identify the second condition, and enabling atransient sharing mode for as long as the second condition continues;and whenever the transient sharing mode is enabled and the meetingattendee touches a display screen of the non-handheld computing device,receiving a copy of the current contents of said display screen from thenon-handheld computing device, and displaying said current contents inthe form of an overlay on the public display device.
 14. Acomputer-implemented process for democratizing information sharingduring a co-located group meeting in a meeting space, comprising: usinga computer to performing the following process actions: whenever a firstcondition occurs comprising a first meeting attendee who is within afirst prescribed distance of a public display device comprising atouch-enabled display screen in the meeting space forming a remotelocation indicator posture and remotely pointing said posture at asecond meeting attendee who is not within the prescribed distance of thepublic display device, operating cooperatively with both anaudience-oriented object sensing device in the meeting space, and apresenter-oriented object sensing device in the meeting space, toidentify the first condition, identify the second meeting attendee, andidentify a personal computing device that is associated with the secondmeeting attendee, and enabling a presenter-to-audience-member transfermode for as long as the first condition continues; and whenever thepresenter-to-audience-member transfer mode is enabled and the firstmeeting attendee performs an information-push touch gesture on aninformation object that is displayed on the display screen, transmittinga copy of said information object to said personal computing device. 15.The process of claim 14, wherein the first meeting attendee forms theremote location indicator posture using one of their hands, furthercomprising the actions of: whenever the presenter-to-audience-membertransfer mode is enabled and a second condition occurs comprising thefirst condition continuing for a prescribed period of time and the otherhand of the first meeting attendee being within a second prescribeddistance of the display screen, operating cooperatively with both theaudience-oriented and presenter-oriented object sensing devices toidentify the second condition, and displaying a touch gesture disclosureoverlay around the first meeting attendee on the public display device,said overlay comprising one or more different graphical icons each ofwhich discloses a different rectilinear, mark-based touch gesture thatis allowed to be performed by the first meeting attendee on the displayscreen; whenever a third condition occurs comprising the first meetingattendee forming said posture and remotely pointing it away from thepublic display device and at a floor of the meeting space, operatingcooperatively with both the audience-oriented and presenter-orientedobject sensing devices to identify the third condition, identify anymeeting attendees who are not within the first prescribed distance ofthe public display device, and identify the personal computing devicethat is associated with each of said attendees, and enabling apresenter-to-entire-audience transfer mode for as long as the thirdcondition continues; and whenever the presenter-to-entire-audiencetransfer mode is enabled and the first meeting attendee performs theinformation-push touch gesture on the information object that isdisplayed on the display screen, transmitting a copy of said informationobject to the personal computing device that is associated with each ofthe meeting attendees who are not within the first prescribed distanceof the public display device.
 16. The process of claim 14, furthercomprising the actions of: whenever a second condition occurs comprisingthere being no meeting attendees in the meeting space, operatingcooperatively with the audience-oriented and presenter-oriented objectsensing devices to identify the second condition, enabling an ambientdisplay mode for as long as the second condition continues, anddisplaying one or more default information objects on the public displaydevice; and whenever the ambient display mode is enabled and a thirdcondition occurs comprising one or more meeting attendees entering andremaining in the meeting space for a prescribed period of time,operating cooperatively with the audience-oriented andpresenter-oriented object sensing devices to identify the thirdcondition, disabling the ambient display mode, and removing the defaultinformation objects from the public display device.
 17. The process ofclaim 14, further comprising the actions of: whenever a second conditionoccurs comprising there being two or more meeting attendees within thefirst prescribed distance of the public display device and saidattendees are facing toward the public display device enough to see itscontents, operating cooperatively with the presenter-oriented objectsensing device to identify the second condition, enabling amulti-working presenters mode, and segmenting the display screen into anumber of different regions, wherein said number equals a current countof the two or more meeting attendees, each different region ispositioned in front of a different one of the two or more meetingattendees, and a splitter graphical element is displayed betweenadjacent regions.
 18. The process of claim 14, further comprising theactions of: whenever a second condition occurs comprising the firstmeeting attendee forming the remote location indicator posture andpointing said posture at a tertiary display region which is opticallyprojected onto a prescribed location on a tertiary surface in themeeting space that is located near the public display device, operatingcooperatively with the presenter-oriented object sensing device toidentify the second condition, enabling a tertiary display mode for aslong as the second condition continues, and causing an opticalprojection device in the meeting space to optically project a locationindicator within said region in a position there-within corresponding towhere said posture is currently being pointed; and whenever the tertiarydisplay mode is enabled and the first meeting attendee performs theinformation-push touch gesture on the information object that isdisplayed on the display screen, causing the optical projection deviceto optically project said information object within the tertiary displayregion, and removing said information object from the public displaydevice.
 19. The process of claim 14, further comprising the actions of:whenever a second condition occurs comprising the first meeting attendeeforming a palette generating posture and hovering said posture over thedisplay screen for a prescribed period of time, operating cooperativelywith the presenter-oriented object sensing device to identify the secondcondition, enabling a palette mode for as long as the second conditioncontinues, and displaying a posture palette on the display screen in aposition thereon that is adjacent to the current location of saidposture, wherein the posture palette comprises a palette of graphicalicons and each of said icons represents a different item of informationcontent that the first meeting attendee may choose to add to the displayscreen.
 20. A computer-implemented process for democratizing informationsharing during a co-located group meeting in a meeting space,comprising: using a computer to performing the following processactions: whenever a first condition occurs comprising a first meetingattendee who is using a touch-enabled non-handheld computing deviceforming a remote location indicator posture and remotely pointing saidposture at a second meeting attendee, operating cooperatively with anobject sensing device in the meeting space to identify the firstcondition, identify the second meeting attendee, and identify a personalcomputing device that is associated with the second meeting attendee,and enabling a peer-to-peer transfer mode for as long as the firstcondition continues; whenever the peer-to-peer transfer mode is enabledand the first meeting attendee performs an information-push touchgesture on a first information object that is displayed on a displayscreen of the non-handheld computing device, receiving a copy of thefirst information object from the non-handheld computing device, andforwarding the copy of the first information object to said personalcomputing device; whenever a second condition occurs comprising thepeer-to-peer transfer mode being disabled and a third meeting attendeewho is using a touch-enabled handheld computing device forming a devicepointing posture and remotely pointing said posture at the secondmeeting attendee, operating cooperatively with the object sensing deviceto identify the second condition, identify the second meeting attendee,and identify the personal computing device that is associated with thesecond meeting attendee, and enabling the peer-to-peer transfer mode foras long as the second condition continues; and whenever the peer-to-peertransfer mode is enabled and the third meeting attendee performs theinformation-push touch gesture on a second information object that isdisplayed on a display screen of the handheld computing device,receiving a copy of the second information object from the handheldcomputing device, and forwarding the copy of the second informationobject to said personal computing device.